Film Director Jayantha Chandrasiri and Myanmar Blogger monk Ashin Mettacara during the ceremony

Film Star Thumindu Dodanthenna and Ashin Mettacara

June 03, Anuradhapura: Following the unification of the country, Jayantha Chandrasiri, a well known film director in Sri Lanka has taken steps to make a new film on the biography of great king "Dutugemunu".

The initial religious ceremonies of the film was held last evening in front of the Ruwanwelisa Dagoba in Anuradhapura, one of the greatest creations by the King Dutugemunu in his life time. Myanmar Blogger monk Ashin Mettacara was also invited to bless the ceremony.

King Dutugemunu was a Sinhalese king who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC.

The most significant event of this occasion was the congratulations made by the President Mahinda Rajapaksa through satellite to the director of the film and its actors.

Thumindu Dodanthenna, a new comer is to act as King Dutugemunu while Jackson Anthony plays the role of his rival, King Elara.

--Colombopage--

JHU leader Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera and Ashin Mettacara

Smile Clubs

Myanmar Blogger Ashin Mettacara celebrated his 27th birthday for the first time with a monk-studded lunch.

Monks and friends joined him at Makutarama Temple for a morning of Lunch Dana at the party being hosted by Smile Clubs. A special guest was Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera, Parliamentary Group Leader of Jathika Hela Urumaya. They had discussed about the current situation of Buddhism in Myanmar ( known as Burma). Ashin Mettacara has planned to visit the House of Sri Lanka parliament to have a relationship with the Parlimentrians.
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Myanmar Monk Ven. Sobhana with reporters

Collecting the alms

By Ashin Mettacara


Myanmar Buddhist monks studying in Sri Lanka helped the victims of Tamil war by collecting alms.
The ceremony began at 4 pm in Colombo. Sri Lankan people donated food, clothes and money to the monks. Monks then donated those alms to the victims of Tamil war. The ceremony was organized by the JHU Parliamentary Group leader Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera and the parliamentarian monk Omalpe Sobitha Thera.

"We are all really happy to have the chance to help the victims of Tamil war. Sri Lankan people have helped a lot during the Nargis cyclone in Myanmar, so now we are happy to have the opportunity to help you.", is what the secretary monk Ven. Sobhana stated during his interview with reporters.

Several Sri Lankan Buddhist monks came to support the Myanmar monks and more than 100 monks from both countries participated the ceremony.

The fight between Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers is an ongoing issue and recently more than 50 000 civilians have found themselves in a situation where their lives are seriously affected.

Myanmar monks are grateful to all those who got involved and they hope that there will be more opportunities in the future to organize similar events, as there are still many civilians who are in need of basic supplies such as food, clothing and medicines.
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Junta strongman Gen Than Shwe



By AUNG ZAW

(Bangkok Post)If you want to know what Senior General Than Shwe is thinking these days, I suggest you read his recent Armed Forces Day speech, which he gave in the new capital Naypyidaw.

There was nothing new in his annual speech, which contained an admonition that the democratisation process would be slow. Here is part of his speech:

"Democracy in Myanmar [Burma] today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention," the general said.

"As a Myanmar proverb puts it, a recently dug well cannot be expected to produce clear water immediately; understanding the process of gradual maturity is crucial, as is contributing to it through concerted constructive efforts in an environment of peace and tranquility."

Phew. This is disappointing, indeed. How many times have we heard this nonsense over the past two decades?

After hearing about his speech, some Burmese joked that maybe Gen Than Shwe was digging his well in the wrong soil.

Clearly, it is Gen Than Shwe who is not ready for democracy, and not the people of Burma, who have often demonstrated that they are more than ready to return to life in a democratic society.

The general is not interested in amending the new constitution, and has shown no inclination to make his "road map" more inclusive, as the intentional community has repeatedly requested.

In his speech, Gen Than Shwe warned against efforts to undermine the constitution, which he said had been adopted by the people in last year's referendum.

He also warned potential participants in next year's planned election against engaging in personal attacks.

"I would like to request those who will be involved in organising work for parties to refrain from inciting unrest, to avoid personal attacks and smear campaigns against other parties and to find unity in diversity by practicing tolerance, forgiveness and understanding toward one another. Everyone following such ways and means of mature party organising work will receive the blessing of the government," he said.

It is obvious that Gen Than Shwe intends to plough ahead with his road map, even if there is good reason to believe that most people, including many in the military, are unconvinced that it will extract the country from its current quagmire.

Sources in Naypyidaw say that Gen Than Shwe and top leaders are having difficulty selling the road map, which will culminate in the 2010 election, even to soldiers and officers. The army is divided on the election issue and some senior army officers want the strongman to extend an olive branch to opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the sources said. But the stubborn old general has shown no sign of backing down.

To Gen Than Shwe, the road map is his own personal exit strategy, which he hopes will enable him to relax his iron grip on power so that he can spend his dotage without fear of reprisal, either from his military successors or from some future civilian government.

Official sources said that Gen Than Shwe knows that he and his family are intensely disliked both in Burma and in countries where Burmese political exiles have largely succeeded in portraying his regime as the epitome of oppression.

The sources said that he has been closely monitoring news and criticism of his regime. What he sees when he holds this mirror to his face must indeed be truly frightening.

Gen Than Shwe knows that in the dog-eat-dog world of Burmese despotism, there is a very real danger that he could end up spending his final days as a prisoner, just as his own boss did.

General Ne Win, who ruled Burma for 26 years, spent his last days as a prisoner of the regime and died while under house arrest in 2002. This is not the fate that Gen Than Shwe wants to find awaiting him.

So does this mean that he could yet find it within his heart to make a compromise with the opposition and bend somewhat to international opinion?

Not likely. When United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently visited the region, Gen Than Shwe did not extend an invitation because he knew that he would be asked to make concessions that are anathema to him.

Officials close to the general say that he spends a great deal of time pondering the possibility of releasing prisoners, including Daw Suu Kyi, before the election, as a gesture to placate the international community. But at this stage, he still feels that such a move would be too risky.

Gen Than Shwe, a former psychological warfare officer who takes great care to anticipate his enemies' every move, is no gambler. He doesn't dare risk releasing Daw Suu Kyi even if it is a guaranteed way to win the world's applause.

Daw Suu Kyi, for her part, has shown no reluctance to discuss any issue on the table, including sanctions. She has signalled her willingness to meet with the regime's leadership through the junta's liaison minister, Aung Kyi.

The thought of such an encounter with his nemesis no doubt sends chills up Gen Than Shwe's spine. Better to break out the shovels and tell his minions to keep digging that well that could take forever to finally yield water fit to drink.

But the Burmese people are getting thirsty, and the soldiers are getting tired of the back-breaking labour required to keep a hated regime in power. Sooner or later, Gen Than Shwe will learn that one cannot keep people waiting forever.

Aung Zaw is Editor of Irrawaddy magazine.





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“Thingyan”- Myanmar New Year, the Water Festival is the most unique and colourful with the merriest occasion in Myanmar. During Thinngyan days the people throwing water each other since the Myanmar believe that Thinngyan water has the power to cleanse the evil and sins of the old year. The water festival called "Thinngyan" falls on the last four days before Myanmar New Year day, which is in the second week of April roughly on the twelfth or thirteenth, according to the Gregorian calendar. In this year 2009, the water festival starts from 13th April to 16th April.

Thinngyan water festival time is the merriest time for Myanmar young and old. Almost the whole populations are in the most joyous mood; roam around the city in cars or on foot to throwing and splashing water each other.

While Thinngyan is a time for fun, it is also a time for religious reflection. Some people go to pagodas and do the good deeds and keep the Sabbath. Myanmar New Year Day is 17th April and on that day Myanmar people do meritorious deeds such as offering food to the monks at the monasteries, free animals like bird, fish and cattle. As well as shampoo and clipping nails to the old people.



The word "Thingyan" is said to have been derived from a Pali word, "Sankata" which means change. So Thingyan connotes change from old season to new season, old year to new year, or change from the month of Tabaoung which is the twelfth month of Myanmar calendar to the month of Tagu, the first month of the following year. Thingyan also means move, for in summer the sun moves from the South to North, or the Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer. The movement of the sun causes the seasons and its return to the North marks the beginning of Myanmar's three seasonal year. The advent of Thingyan is signal by the movement of the sun from the month of Tabaung (Mina or Pisces) to the month of Tagu. In Tagu the circle of nature begins anew, ushering in the new year.

The legend of Thingyan is as interesting as its festival is a joyous occasion. Thagyar Min or Indra and Athi Brahma were said to have drawn into controversy over the solution of a mathematical problem. They agreed to refer the matter to a sage called Kavalamine whose verdict they agreed would be accepted as final. They also agreed the winner should cut off the loser's head. The sage judged that Indra's solution was the right and Indra cut off Anthi Brahma's head. But Athi Brahma was said to have been so omnipotent a god that if his head were trown down to the Earth, the Earth would burn to ashes, if thrown into oceans all water would dry up. So seven goddesses of the seven days were made to hold his head in turn. The time when the head changes hands corresponds to Thingyan.

A Athi Brahma's body should not remain headless, Indra cut off the head of Mahapingala Elephant and joined it on the Brahma's body, thereby the Brahma became Mahapinne god (Ganesha). This is the legend of Thingyan. Since time immemorial Thingyan has been one of the traditional festivals of the Myanmars. In the days of Myanmar Kings it was celebrated at the Court where royalty and nobility participated in the water pouring. King Narathihapate (1254-87 AD) the last ruler of Pagan (Bagan) Dynasty was recorded to have built enclosed corridors running from his palace to the bank of the Ayeyawaddy river, inside which he and his courtiers reveled in water throwing. A symbolic ritual of the occasion is water pot observed on the first day of Thingyan. It is believed that on the first day of Thingyan Indra descends from his Celestial Kingdom to Earth to record in his golden parabeik the merits and demerits of all humans so that he can pass impartial judgement. The first day of Thingyan is known as"Akya," (day of descent). On this day at the precise time of the descent is performed the water pouring rite. The second day of Thingyan is called "Akyat" which means middle day, during which Indra is busy with his golden parabeik. The third day is known as "Atet" meaning the Day of Ascent to his Heavenly Kingdom.

Over the years, Thingyan has acquired increasing social significance. It has become a national festival in which nationalities participate and reveal in water pouring. Goodwill is the spirit of Thingyan. The motto of this festival is "with malice towards none, and charity for all". Devout Buddhist keep Sabbath for three days, and do all kinds of meritorious deeds, such as offering food to the Sanghas, observing the precepts, and holding feasts for the public. Young people pay respects to the parents, and elders, or help to bathe and shampoo the aged with loving kindness. Tagu corresponding to April is the hottest month in Myanmar. It is appropriate indeed that the water pouring festival is held in this month.

References:

Myanmar New Year Festival (Thingyin Water Festival)

What is Thingyan

Myanmar Festivals with Cultural


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By Muchacho Enfermo



Ashinmettacara.org the blog of Burmese Buddhist monk in exile Ashin Mettacara has been nominated for yet another international award. The Chapeau Blog Awards for most brilliant blog. The grand prize is $2000 (US) for the blog voted by the people as being the most brilliant.




Ashin’s network of sites started from his blog and now extends to his news site Ashin-Mettacara.com with contributors and editors from the four corners of the globe and to a social networking site called smilesclub.org. His message of peace and justice, his relentless fight for human rights and his quest to give a voice to the voiceless is being recognized by organizations such as Chapeau and in the past he has won other international prizes such as the Weblog Award for Best Asian Blog.

These awards are evidence that the social conscience of many people is being touched by the work of Ashin and his supporters. They are also a great way to raise awareness about Burma and other places on earth that may not enjoy the same rights and freedoms as the rest of us. I encourage all of you to follow the simple instructions below to vote in the Chapeau Blog Awards and with your vote help Ashin bring a voice to the millions who currently don’t have one.

Voting Instructions:

1- 1- Visit: http://www.chapeaublogawards.com/finalists.php

2- 2- Click on BECOME A VOTER

3- 3- Fill out the form with your desired name and VALID email address

4- 4- You must refer at least two other people in order to validate your registration.

5- 5- Chapeau will contact you once voting begins.

Again, I encourage all of you who read and enjoy this site, that believe in freedom of press, thought, belief and expression to vote and tell others about this vote. Your voice can help thousands worldwide please show your support by signing up.




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By Muchacho Enfermo

The news site Ashin-Mettacara.com, of Burmese monk in exile Ashin Mettacara, was attacked twice in the past week with DDoS attacks. The first attack came on March 11th and the second on March 15th. A distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) usually aims at flooding a web server with so many queries to requests as to render it unable to process further requests. The query limit on Ashin-Mettacara.com, which is designed to accept huge volumes of traffic, was exceeded within the span of an hour on both of these dates.



This is not the first time a Burmese news site in exile has been hacked using this method; last fall the news sites Mizzima and Irrawaddy were both victim of DDoS attacks. The perpetrators of these attacks are still unknown and have yet to be brought to justice. The attacks of March 11th and March 15th were the second attacks on Ashin-Mettacra.com, the first wave of them occurred January 20th and 21st 2009 shortly after the launch of the website.



The attacks on Ashin-Mettacara.com took place at a time when Ashin was lecturing on web programming to over 50 monks and could not monitor his site. The site, which gathers news from all over the world and is crawled by Google News, has the slogan “Free Press for Freedom of Thought, Belief and Expression”. It is clear that whoever is behind these attacks does not share the values of the writers that publish their news on the site daily or those of their readers. It is unclear whether the Burma’s military junta is responsible for the attacks.



We would like to thank our regular readers for supporting this site and hope that you will continue to support it in the face of these blatant attempts to silence those who believe in freedom and respect.

By Muchacho Enfermo

Ashinmettacara.org, the blog of Buddhist monk Ashin Mettacara has reached the finalists of the Chapeau Blog Awards (http://www.chapeaublogawards.com/finalists.php) in the News category. Ashin’s blog has already won many awards including the Weblog award for Best Asian Blog in 2008.


Ashin’s blog and his website Ashin-Mettacara.com strive to bring to light the struggles of the Burmese and the cause of those around the world who seek freedom of thought, speech and expression. It comes as no surprise that his blog is up as a finalist for yet another prestigious award.


The support that was shown for Ashin and his blog in the 2008 Weblog awards was overwhelming and helped propel the visibility of his blog, his site and his struggle for the rights of his people. I have no doubt that once again his countrymen and supporters around the world will once again help his blog and the cause of the Burmese remain at the forefront.


In order to vote you simply need to hit the “Become a Voter” link on top of any category. Voting for the Chapeau Blog Awards will begin on April 14th 2008.

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, daughter of Ko Mya Aye (Center)
The twenty-year-old daughter of a Burmese political prisoner sentenced to 65 years in prison, is due to speak about her experiences on the annual Global Day of Prayer for Burma on Saturday 7 March.



Wai Hnin Pwint Thon will join Baroness Caroline Cox, CSW’s East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers, and Premier Christian Radio’s Cindy Kent, as a speaker at an all-day event in Westminster on Saturday. The day is being hosted by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) together with Karen Aid and Partners Relief and Development.

Wai Hnin will be interviewed by Cindy Kent on the day, and will tell her story of her family’s harassment by Burma’s military regime. Her father, Mya Aye, has been in prison for much of her life, and has recently been jailed again for his peaceful pro-democracy activities.

Fearing her own arrest, Wai Hnin came to the UK in 2005 and now volunteers at the Burma Campaign UK, assisting their work in releasing Burma’s many political prisoners. Her eight year old sister still lives with her mother in Rangoon.

Baroness Cox will speak about the plight of the Chin people and present evidence of a severe famine unfolding in Chin State, western Burma.

CSW recently returned from a fact-finding visit to the Thai-Burmese border with evidence of human rights violations in Karen State. Mr Rogers will present an update on the situation at the day of prayer. CSW is now urging the UN secretary general to intensify efforts to facilitate a process of meaningful dialogue between Burma’s military regime, the democracy movement and the ethnic nationalities.

The Global Day of Prayer for Burma first began in 1997, initiated by Christians Concerned for Burma at the request of Burma’s democracy leader, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It has since become an internationally recognised event attended by those struggling to see an end to suffering in Burma.

Mr Rogers said: “Burma urgently needs prayer and action. A land ruled by one of the world’s most brutal regimes, guilty of every possible human rights violation amounting to crimes against humanity, it is spiralling into further humanitarian and political crisis."We urge people around the world to join us on this Day of Prayer, and we hope many people will come to the event in London, to hear first-hand stories of Burma’s suffering and to get involved in efforts to end Burma’s pain.”
The day of prayer will take place on Saturday 7 March at the Emmanuel Centre, 9-23 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3DW (nearest tubes: Victoria and Westminster) from 10am-5pm.

By Rebecca Hosking

Most travelers pick a spot to visit to get away from the everyday mundane cycles of work life in search for a little R&R. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But think about the beauty of experiencing a new place, amazing sites, getting some rest and relaxation but at the same time the sheer fact of you being there is helping a countries people to participate in richer fuller lives.


Not a lot is known about Myanmar previously named Burma. The governement is a dictatorial authoritarion regime which is controlled by the military. There was a parlimentary government election back in 1990 but the military prevented it from convening. The leader of the opposition party National League of Democracy named Aung San Suu Kyi who fought for a freer Myanmar through nonviolent means according to the results of the general election was crowned the new Prime Minister and the Military detained her as a political prisoner so she was never able to accept the position. She was honored in 1991 with a Nobel peace price for her efforts. The current government is lead by Prime Minister and General Thein Sein. This regime has been responsible for the displacement of several hundred thousand citizens both in and out of the country and have remained in power through violence and intimidation. The regime suppresses political activity and restricts internet access including blocking google, gmail, yahoo and hotmail and uses a software-based filtering from the US company Fortinet to limit the materials citizens can access online including most political opposition and pro-democracy pages.

In 2001 the military allowed NLD offices to reopen throughout Myanmar but were shut down again in 2004 as part of a goverment campaign to prohibit such activities. By 2006 most members resigned due to harassment and pressure from the military. The military government placed Suu Kyi under house arrest again in May of 2003 and extended the arrest another year in 2005 despite the direct appeal from Kofi Annan. Then extended the house arrest yet another year in 2006.

Myanmar was catapulted back into the news on May 2 of 2008 after a deadly cyclone hit and claimed over 146,000 lives. The relief efforts were slowed for political reasons as the military resisted aid initially. Not until several days after the catastrophic event was aid finally accepted but still limited.

Visa free entries are possible at some borders, however you will need to leave Myanmar from the same border on the same day and some fees do apply. Typically about $10.00 USD. Otherwise visas must be obtained by all visitors prior to travel. Since the pro-democracy protests in 2007 there has been a crackdown from the military and have been reports of it taking longer to obtain a visa and you must show proof that you are not connected to the press. Proof of employment such as name cards are often required and any online links to your name can ultimately lead to denial of entry. Tourist can also apply for a visa upon arrival which was created for tourist without a Myanmar embassy and is also recommended for those countries that do as the application process is much more convenient. Popping over the Thai border by land into border towns is quite easy. However traveling by land to Myanmar proper varies between diffuclt to impossible.

When I visited the country back in 1997 it was required to purchase $100 USD of Foreign Exchange Curreny upon arrival and use the FEC's through out your visit. 1 USD was equal to 1 FEC and were only accepted in disginated areas the military allowed you to visit. The FEC was abolished back in 2003 but still considered a legal currency but should be avoided at all cost now. The exchange rate varies between The Myanmar Kyat and 1 USD. Visitors must bring enough cash with them for their entire stay as there is no easy way to get more without leaving the country. Credit cards are likely unaccepted due to sanctions imposed on the country and there are no ATM's available.

There is always the question should I go or not due to the existing political problems. Suu Kyi has asked travelers in the past not to visit as it gives the military an edge and strong hold. However many local resdience encourage visitors becuase your money is going directly to local merchants even though it still helps and funds the military. It is difficult to judge or know without seeing it with your own eyes and like anything else there is always a fine line. I decided to go see for myself.

The country had innocence incomparable to any place I had been. Contrary to Myanmar being known as one of the most poverty stricken countries in South East Asia its appearance was clean and organized. Yangon was stripped of its status as the capitol in 2005 but is still very much the economic stronghold of the country. Shwedagon Paya is the center piece of the city with a golden stupa visible from all over the town. Downtown by the waterfront you can meander through historic streets revealing some of the best British colonial-era architecture in the region.

Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar and is the countries religious hub. The country is predominantly Buddhist with small precentages of other religions. The city is centered on the Royal Palace with wide streets filled with motorcycles and bicycles moving at a vibrant pace. Most of the countries monks reside there and in its surrounding areas. This city has a diverse mixture of cultures and is considered an intellectual Mecca.

If you are more of an out doors person in the mood to absorb some nature then Inle Lake would be the perfect destination for you. You can sit lake side and people watch as the canoe captain’s row by standing on the edge of the boat paddling with their legs. There are numerous floating villages inhabited by the Intha people. Go for hikes from one shop to the next in search for Burmese silk.

The highlight of my trip was the pagoda garden of Bagan once named Pagan. It is an archeological zone with thousands of pagodas, stupas and temple ruins near the banks of Ayeyarwady River. The site is home to the largest area of Buddhist ruins in the world with many dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries. Bagan was a central power base of the mid 9th century under King Anarawtha. He unified Myanmar, then called Burma, using Theravada Buddhism. It is said that at least 13,000 temples and stupas once stood in this 42 sq-km plain. There are about 2200 ruins remaining in the area in varied states of repair. Bagan’s golden age ended in 1287 when invaded by the Mongols.

Whatever your destination might be in Myanmar savor everything and take it in. I encourage you to go there and not let the international community detour you because they say being there fuels the fire. You being there is an arm reaching across the border and bringing the outside world to the repressed. Burmese people are gentle kind loving souls with smiles that hide their aching hearts. We can only hope through our visits we can bring attention and maybe one day change!

Author: Rebecca Hosking’s fascination for different cultures has brought her to 45 countries through out the seven continents. She has been a freelance writer for over six years and feels her best education came from traveling.

(Xinhua) -- An International Theravada Buddhist universities conference will be held at the Sitagu International Buddhists Academy in Sagaing, northwestern division of Myanmar, executive secretary of the Association of Theravada Buddhist Universities (ATBU) Vulnerable Dr. Khammai Dhammasami told the press Monday.

At the second biennial conference, which will last from March 5to 8, about 70 papers relating to engaged Buddhism, religious teachings in Theravada Buddhist countries, monasticism in Theravada countries, and Pali literature since the 19th century will be presented mainly in English and Pali languages for discussion.

According to the executive secretary, 290 representatives from 30 universities and colleges from 11 countries including observers from seven other countries as well as 300 domestic monks and nuns are expected to attend the session.

These countries include Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Uganda, Jamaica, Nepal and host Myanmar.

The conference is aimed at building a network of Theravada Buddhists and intellectuals from across the world to enable cooperation in religious teachings and education and disseminate Buddhist laws to the world, he said.

The first conference of its kind was also held in Myanmar's Bagan Popa resort, in which representatives of Theravada Buddhist universities and colleges from 13 countries attended, followed by the establishment of ATBU.

The forthcoming international Theravada Buddhist universities conference came more than four years after the World Buddhist Summit, sponsored by Myanmar for the first time, took place at the Maha Pasana Cave in Yangon in December 2004 to promote and propagate Buddhism.

Buddhism stands one of the four main historical religions of the world with over 360 million followers. Myanmar is a country with a majority of its population (about 80 percent) believing in Buddhism. It is estimated that there are over 420,000 monks and over 60,000 nuns within nine sects in Myanmar which have been unified at different levels under the leadership of the government's religious committee.

For nearly 1,000 years, the country has kept Theravada Buddhismpure and intact. Buddhist scripture learning centers and other monastic education schools were set up here long ago.

There are five Theravada Buddhist universities and institutes in Myanmar -- four in Yangon, one in Mandalay and one in Sagaing.

By Jane Stillwater


The author offers her sincere apolgies for the length of this article -- it's really, really long. But you gotta use LOTS of words to describe the wonders of Burma. There's just no other way to do it right. And lots of photos too -- but I only picked out the ones that fit into this story. I did leave the other 650 photos out! Click here to see the photos.


November 10, 2008: I went to my orthopedist to get the first in a series of injections of SynVisc cartilage-replacement gel into my knees today. “These shots will really help you walk better by replacing the cartilage in your knees,” said the doctor And then he pulled out a hypodermic needle six inches long. Oh lord!

“Will it hurt?” I whined. “I can’t stand too much pain.” Yeah it hurt – but not all that bad. The new “Jello shots” didn’t make my knees feel any better -- but on the other hand, after a day or so they felt only slightly worse. I was hopeful.

November 17, 2008: I returned to the orthopedist for a second set of injections. They went well. No problem.

November 22, 2008: Last night I walked over to see some friends – just eight short blocks away. And when I woke up this morning, my right knee was totally painful and swollen up like a balloon. Holy crap! I’m supposed to leave for Burma in two weeks! And now I can’t even walk! This is a nightmare.

November 25, 2008: So much for Thanksgiving. The nightmare’s gotten worse. My doctor said that the injections had nothing to do with the inflammation. Yeah right. I sat in his office and cried so hard on November 24 that he didn’t even try to persuade me to let him give me the third set. “My life is over,” I cried. “I’m only 66 years old and I’ll never be able to walk again!”

But wait. It gets worse. My left knee swelled up to twice its size too and I started to get a burning pain in my knees that then spread down into my calves. “It feels like battery acid inside my muscles,” I wailed. And it did. Now it takes me ten minutes just to walk from the kitchen to the bedroom. How the freak am I supposed to get to the airport – let alone fly to Burma. Crap.

November 27, 2008: Thanksgiving wasn’t so bad. I hobbled around on crutches between the car and the hors’odeurves sidebar. You can always sit down while you eat. The turkey was excellent. And the pain couldn’t stop me from eating a slice of peach, blueberry and pumpkin pie each.

November 28, 2008: Double crap. Now both my ankles are swollen up like balloons. I look like I’ve got Elephant Man legs. I googled “SynVisc” and apparently I’m not the only one that this has happened to. There have been at least two class action suits against SynVisc. I’m screwed. But at least I got a good story out of it for my blog – even if it took me ten minutes to hobble over to the computer.

November 29, 2008: Both my ankles are swollen to twice their normal size and both calves are not only swollen and painful but are as hard as a rock. And there’s only nine days to go before I’m supposed to walk all over the Irrawaddy River basin. “They’ll have to take me around in a wheelchair,” I told my daughter Ashley. I cried a lot. She hugged me.

December 1, 2008: Only six days left. Screw this. I’m going to get acupunctured. Every single time I mess around with Big Pharma meds, I live to regret it.

“Hmmm,” said the acupuncturist, while pointing to my knees. “We could acupuncture you here, here and here but that would be too painful. We’ll needle you there, there and there instead.” And it actually worked. I now look like a crab as I hobble along but, hey – at least I can now do the little-old-lady shuffle.

December 7, 2008: “Bring me back a puppy from Burma,” Ashley called after me as I hobbled off toward the BART train to the airport, dragging my suitcase behind me. That’s just sad. My legs, not the puppy.

Last night we researched puppies online. “Here’s a Burmese Mountain Dog,” said Ashley. “Awww, isn’t it sweet?” It looked like a cross between an Australian sheep dog and a St. Bernard.

How about that I just bring you a T-shirt?” I replied. The ride to the airport was do-able and I gave myself three hours to get from the check-in counter to the gate. This is going to be a very interesting trip.

“Burma is famous for its rubies,” said the man in the seat next to me on the flight to Japan. Really? Apparently rubies are more precious than diamonds right now because there are no more new ruby mines being discovered. Maybe I could buy some rubies? Can one bring rubies back into the U.S.? I’ll ask. That would be so cool to buy a handful of rubies for a few dollars and then sell them back home for millions. Yeah right, Jane. Dream on.

December 9, 2008: Seven inflight movies later, I finally got to Bangkok – and to my hotel at 2:00 am. But, really, it wasn’t so bad. Eleven and a half hours from San Francisco to Japan and then seven and a half hours more to Bangkok. Not all that bad – not after some of those horrendously long flights I’ve taken to Afghanistan and Iraq. At my hotel, I got five hours of sleep, ate a huge buffet breakfast (breakfast appears to come with one’s hotel room in Southeast Asia), paid ten dollars for an hour’s internet access and here I am now – back at the Bangkok airport, about to fly off to Burma.

“Are you Burmese?” I asked the man sitting next to me on the plane.

“Yes. I lived in the United States for a year in 2005 but now I work for Siemans.” Definitely not your typical hill-country tribesman.

A Thai woman at my hotel in Bangkok had told me that the occupancy rate at the big hotels there is now only 10%. “And this is the height of the season too.” She thought it was because of the protests that just recently shut down the Bangkok airport. It might be that. But also it might be because the world economy currently sucks eggs.

Also, while I was in Bangkok I got to talk with Tony, an American who lives in Thailand that I’ve been corresponding with for years. Like me, he “talks just like he writes”.

On the plane from Japan to Thailand, I lost my glasses. I fell asleep with them on and woke up with them gone. Can one do that? Apparently one can. “There’s a glasses thief on this plane!” I cried. The steward came with his flashlight and everyone searched around. No glasses. Then I had an epiphany that my glasses were the most meaningful thing in my life and that I was lost without them. Completely dysfunctional. Then I had another epiphany that even without my glasses, I was still me – in fact even more so. Then I wandered up and down the aisles of the plane, unchained by my new existential freedom! Then, eight rows away, I stumbled over something bumpy on the carpet and there were my glasses. Go figure. I haven’t taken them off since.

Now I’ve arrived at the Rangoon International airport and it's all spiffy and modern and has escalators and baggage carousels just like those in any other major airport. What was I thinking? That Rangoon was gonna have a primitive airport powered by candlelight? Yeah.

And the people in Rangoon turned out to be just people – like everywhere else, with the possible exception of the north and south poles.

“Yangon is the original Burmese pronunciation of this city’s name,” one Burmese told me. “The British mispronounced it as ‘Rangoon’. And the same thing goes for ‘Burma’. The British mispronounced ‘Brahma’, which is what the Burmese people are called. The country itself has been called Myanmar for centuries.” Oh.

So Myanmar is much different than I thought it would be – just like every other country I’ve ever been to has turned out to be different from what I had imagined. That’s why I like to travel – to see what really actually is what.

Then I went off to my neo-British hotel where they brought me iced tea in the lobby while I listened to Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” song being played on a slide guitar by a Burmese wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

December 10, 2008: Did I mention that I found a ball-point pen on the floor of the Bangkok airport? Hey, I’m a writer. It may not be a big thing to the average person but to me it’s almost like finding a hard-drive and keyboard on the airport floor.

My hotel in Yangon was all made of teakwood, was set into a tropical garden and was right on the river. And the hotel was cheap too. Can’t get much better than that. I had breakfast on the verandah next to a gigantic teak statue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“Now we are going to the Shwedagon pagoda,” said my guide. The pagoda and its many surrounding shrines covered a whole mountaintop. “It’s the holiest religious site in Burma – and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is covered with 60 metric tons of gold and 3,800 diamonds. 38,000 rubies, diamonds and other precious gems altogether.” Holy cow! I can hardly wait to start taking pictures! And then suddenly I found myself right in the middle of Buddha paradise! I’ve landed in photo-taking paradise too. Two cameras are clearly not enough.

My guide then started telling me stuff about Buddhism. “You need to be free of desire, to live in the present.” But I’m not listening. There’s just too much to look at. There’s a procession of young women dressed in ceremonial robes. There’s some Karin villagers. There’s an old monk. I’ve totally forgotten about the pain in my knees! And everywhere I look, everything is covered with gold. This moment alone is worth the whole trip. I wish my family was here. “May all beings attain the Pure Land in this lifetime,” says the old Buddhist prayer. This looks like the Pure Land to me!

Being at the pagoda also gave me a great chance to people-watch. The Burmese don’t seem all that unhappy. Many of them look serious as hell but many of them also smile and laugh.

An old man came up to me. “If you were born on a Sunday, you pour water over the head of that Buddha over there and it will wash away all your delusions.”

“But I was born on a Wednesday,” I said. “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” I’m full of woe.

“Then you must bathe the Buddha on the northeast corner of the pagoda.” I’m on it like white on rice. “I used to be an English teacher but was fired and now I haven’t worked for nine years,” said the old man. Then he told me which way my guide had gone and I hobbled off to find him, but my guide wasn’t there. “No, he went THAT way,” said the old man. I ran again – or at least I shuffled along really fast. But I still couldn’t find him. But after circumambulating the central golden stupa two more times, I finally caught up with him. Then I met a young woman with the most photogenic baby I’ve ever seen this side of my baby granddaughter Mena. “Can I take your photo?” I begged. That baby was so cute!

And that was how I spent my morning at the World Heritage site. Where to next? “Now we are going to tour downtown Yangon and visit a local market.” He pointed out another pagoda that was supposed to have been built at the actual time of the Buddha. “And here is the Strand Road. Yangon is basically laid out with five roads going east to west and 135 roads running from north to south. This one here is the road to Mandalay where the flying fishes play.” To reach it, however, you have to keep on driving in that direction for the next three or four days.

At the center of Yangon is an old pagoda, a mosque and a synagogue. There is also a church and a Hindu temple. “But the actual capital city of Burma has moved 150 miles to the north. It is traditional for a new government to always establish a new capital.” Apparently they moved the new capital out into the middle of the jungle. I guess that the generals who run the country want a place of their own. A fortified place?

I took lots of photos of colonial buildings in the downtown. “You will not be allowed to take photos of the British and Australian embassies, however, for security reasons. There is an American embassy in Yangon too but it was moved over to the other side of town.”

This city has lots of trees,” I observed.

“Yes, but 85% of the trees here were lost in the recent storm.”

“Why do the people of Yangon paint their faces yellow?” I asked.

“Sunblock. It’s a 1,000-year-old tradition of tamarind-based sunblock. It’s cosmetic.”

Then we went to the post office. I used to work at a post office in California when I was in college, back before everything was automated. As I watched the packages and letters get hand-stamped, I felt right at home.

Next I went off to the Strand Hotel. “This was the center of British colonial life in Burma until the Japanese took it over during World War II. Then it was closed for a while when the socialists ran Burma. Now it is open again. It usually costs $800 a night to stay here but now you can get a room discounted to $180.” It had wicker loveseats in the lobby. And ceiling fans too.

The cheapo notebook I bought at the Walgreens in Berkeley to take notes in is starting to fall apart. Rats.

I met a young girl selling post cards. “I sell post cards in the morning,” she said, “and go to school in the afternoon. I study English.” Lots of people speak English here. I’m surprised.

Then we drove past the former U.S. embassy but too quickly for me to take a photo. “Now we are off to the Scott Market, named after Sir William Scott. It is very colorful.” Colorful is good. I stuffed about twenty dollar bills in my sock just in case.

At the Scott Market I saw a woman selling a simple gold ring set with one ruby. I liked it a lot. “How much?” I asked.

“$120.” I coulda bargained her down but it seemed like too much work to street-hike off to an ATM to get more money so I took some wonderful photos of some little-girl nuns instead and gave them each a dollar. Money well spent.

“About a million people live in the new capital,” said my guide as we drove past the city zoo. “Most of the animals have been transferred to the new capital.” Then we passed a stadium. “The Burma team is number two in Southeast Asia. Thailand is number one.”

Apparently they have a lottery in Burma -- wherein the winners get the right to buy cell phone sim cards. If you win the lottery, you can sell your sim card for twice or three times what you pay for it. And while only 2% of all Burmese own refrigerators, 25% of them own televisions. That’s hilarious. 23% of all Burmese would rather have a TV than a frig.

“Do you want to go tour Yangon’s docks and Chinatown?” asked my guide. I would love to, but my knees hurt, I’m tired, my delayed jet-lag is kicking in and I just came down with a mild case of the Junta’s Revenge – probably from eating all those fresh mangos at the Scott Market.

From what I can tell, what everyone around here calls “The Military Regime” has reached a de facto arrangement with the people of Burma – an unofficial standoff. The Junta stays in its jungle stronghold on the one hand and, on the other hand, the rest of Burma pretty much runs by itself.

By the way, Burma is NOT a failed state. The crime rate is low, the post office runs efficiently, the schools are open and the planes run on time. There isn’t much surplus money lying around but the people are friendly and the streets are clean. Most everything in Rangoon works on a relatively primitive level but everything DOES work. “It is because of Buddhism,” one Burmese told me. “We all care for one another and we all share.”

But the Junta seems to have their own way of life, devoted followers and high standard of living out in the jungle and the people of Rangoon seem to go their own way without the Junta’s help – or interference. Works for me.

Back at the hotel, I talked with another tourist. “Too bad you didn’t get to go to the docks,” she said. “The Chinatown here is like every other Chinatown in the world but life on the docks is fascinating.” How so?

“The place was crowded and many of the residents were poor and just squatting on the sidewalk but everyone seemed to be in this together so nobody seemed to mind. When I went down there on a tour the other day, we were all watching the people at the docks – and they in turn were all watching us! They seemed to be even more fascinated by us than we were with them. They especially thought our tour bus was rather impressive.”

It was all sounded very wonderful down at the docks and a crying shame to miss, but I had my priorities set and at the top of the list was my urgent meetings with “The Junta’s Revenge”.

Another Burmese I talked with at the pagoda this morning said that tourism was really down in Burma right now due to the Junta and the cyclone (they seem to think of hurricanes and typhoons as giant cyclones – which, actually, they are). “We used to get 70,000 tourists a year here. Now we are lucky to get 20,000.”

“When I told people back home that I was going to Burma,” I replied, “everyone advised me to be careful. In America, we all think of Myanmar as being filled with starving and oppressed people and military types in jackboots. And it’s not that way at all. I feel totally safe, the food is delicious, the people are gracious and the tourist attractions are awesome!” Plus I probably picked up my case of Junta’s Revenge in Thailand anyway.

“Please,” said one taxi driver, “when you get back to America, please tell people about Burma. Tourism really helps us here.” And it doesn’t just help the Junta. A lot of tourists’ money goes directly to the people.

When I first thought of coming here, I thought that military types would just hustle us from one sanitized version of Burmese life to the next – sort of like a carefully-guided tour of an Irrawaddy version of Disneyland – and that we would never get to see the “real” Burma, where people are starving and oppressed. No, it doesn’t work that way. I was set loose unescorted in Rangoon and I saw everything there was to see – except for maybe the American embassy. You just can’t fake that sort of thing.

A surprising amount of Burmese speak English very well.

“I travel a lot and have lots of Pepto Bismo,” said one of the tourists at my hotel. Yaayy! Then I jumped onto a propeller-jet plane like the kind one sees at regional airports in the U.S. and headed off to Bagan at 6:00 am. We flew over a whole bunch of mountain ranges – thus the origin of the Burmese Mountain Dog breed, I would assume.

“When I was at the Scott Market today, I saw a puppy that looked like a St. Bernard,” said a tourist back at the hotel. Geez Louise! Don’t tell Ashley! “But it was malnourished.” And PLEASE don’t tell Ashley that! She’ll be on the next plane over to Burma. “To take a dog back to the U.S., it has to be quarantined for six months.” I could stay here in Burma for another six months. No problem.

At first, the mountains my plane flew over were all brown and gray but as we started to land in Bagan, we flew over lots of farmland and the area got greener and greener. However, looking out the plane’s window, I still hadn’t seen anything that I would classify as being jungle. “Bagan’s ancient temple sites are contemporary to Angkor Wat,” someone had told me, and shortly after I got off the plane, I found myself suddenly in the midst of Bagan. Only one mile outside the airport, I was already riding through a forest of pagodas, temples and stupas. “These were built between the first and eleventh century A.D. This area is 1,000 years old.”

There were 55 kings in Bagan and they were always under attack by the Mongols – Kubla Khan. How did the Mongols even find this place! “The eleventh king had 300 wives. And each wife wanted to cook for him so he had to eat 300 dishes per meal.” Plus the guy apparently gave his father a choice to either get poisoned or die by the sword. Life in Burmese politics was hard back then and apparently still is like that today. “The father chose poison.”

Then I wandered around the countryside, poking into some of the thousands of stupas and getting my picture taken with farmers and cows. “This farmer grows five crops on his land,” my guide translated. “Cucumbers during the monsoon and peanuts and sesame seeds right now, when it is dryer. He sells his sesame oil in the village and wholesales his vegetables to distributors.” The farmer had a huge white cow and some wonderful silver teeth. I want teeth like that.

Then some young men rolled up on motorbikes and tried to get me to buy some souvenirs from them, out there in the sesame seed field, standing next to the cow. “You are the only tourist coming though today,” one seller sighed. I guess he’d better move off to Angkor Wat if he wants more customers – or else get a good PR agent to drum up more business for Bagan.

Then we arrived in the village proper and everyone was wearing longyis (wraparound skirts), even the bicyclists. At the market, I used Kyats to buy things – at 1,000 kyats to a dollar. The village market was totally scenic, with piles of vegetables everywhere. But then the local “mothers’ brigade” marched on me when they saw that I had a camera, so I took lots of photos of absolutely adorable babies -- at one dollar per photo. But I turned the tables on them and made them all look at photos of my own grandchild. Humph.

“School just got out for lunch so the children you see dressed in green and white are students,” said my guide. How funny. Longyis are worn as school uniforms here.

“There is compulsory education up to the sixth grade in Burma – and the schools are free. But on the other hand, because parents have to pay for uniforms, books, paper, pencils and lunches out of their own pockets, many families can’t afford to send their children to school even if it is free.” Apparently the goal of education here is to make students literate but not much more than that.

Next I went to another temple and one obviously-pregnant lady absolutely BEGGED me to buy something – anything. “We never get tourists here any more.”

“And what are you looking for, Madam?” she asked.

“I want a small Buddha,” I replied. So she ran off, consulted with her colleagues and returned with a small cast-iron Buddha that was only one-half inch high. Perfect!

Okay, let’s see. We’ve seen how many temples today? Is it lunchtime yet? “We have one more temple to see.” N-o-o-o,,,, But actually this one was the nicest temple of all. The Ananda Temple. It had the most amazing Buddha, 60 feet high, carved from one piece of wood and covered with gold. I was in awe. “But wait. There’s more.” Around the corner was a second 60-foot high gold-plated Buddha. Stunning. I sat there and actually felt at peace with myself for a whole minute.

“But wait. There’s another one around this corner.” I was in Buddha-shock. “And here’s another one!” At this rate I’m gonna get enlightened whether I like it or not.

And then lunch threatened to enlighten me even further – especially the jalapeno sauce that came with the spring rolls.

“What about ethnic intermarriage between the various tribes?” I asked a Burmese man I had been chatting with over lunch.

“Not so much – because of transportation limitations. While you may have the opportunity to jet-set around the world, many Burmese only travel by ox cart – which clearly limits your marriage options.” And apparently women have all kinds of rights within a Burmese marriage. They, for instance, control the family’s finances.

After lunch, there were more temples to visit. At this rate I’ll be enlightened and fly off to Nirvana before dinnertime.

Then my guide packed me off in a horse cart to ride down dirt trails past even more stupas. “There are 2,800 stupas, pagodas and temples here,” said my guidebook.

“My horse’s name is Rambo,” said the man driving my cart. Then I watched the sun set over Bagan from the top of a very tall stupa. And when we drove back to the hotel, Rambo really turned to. I was impressed. He almost cantered. And back at the hotel, I checked my e-mail, ate dinner, went to bed and slept for ten hours.

December 12, 2008: “Today we are going to visit a typical Burmese village and the village’s primary school,” said my guide. On my tour of the school’s first-grade classroom, I discovered that the children were already studying English. “If a child shows promise in school, his or her whole village will pool their funds and try to send that child off to university,” said my guide. “It costs a thousand dollars to make it through university.” That’s a lot of money to come up with in a village where some people live for approximately one year on less than $100.

“This class’s teacher is from this village. The villagers paid for her education and now she teaches here.”

“How much does she get paid per month?”

“$30.”

Then I walked across the road to the village itself and I’m here to tell you that, “It takes a whole village to raise $1,000.” And in fact I have no idea how they managed it. We’re talking cows and chickens and no running water and no electricity. Ox carts and goats. Picturesque as hell but definitely at subsistence level. And this village is better off than most because of the tourists who come to see the temples and stupas of Bagan. But the villagers seemed to be fairly happy. And there was no military presence there either. Actually, I think I’ve only seen one soldier since I’ve been in the country.

Next I went of a lacquerware “factory” – consisting of several low-lying tables where artisans worked, sitting on mats. “First you weave a basket with horsehair and bamboo, then cover it with layers of lacquer and then paint designs on the top. The designs are painted in reverse – like in silkscreening – and then gold paint is layered over that.” We learned a lot more about the lacquering process but I forgot what.

At the factory’s showroom, I fell in love with a little lacquer ring-box which was black with gold patterns – only five dollars! But then in an act of complete generosity I gave it to my guide. But then I got overcome with attachment and greed, bought another one just like it and traded with the guide. I’m a bad person.

“If I wanted to retire here, is it possible?”

“Yes. I think there’s a visa fee of $200 a year but you can live like a queen here.” I could even get a maid! And air conditioning during the summer? “Sure.”

“Maybe I could join a nunnery here,” I mused, “but then I’d have to cut off all my hair and my daughters would win our hair-growing contest.”

“No, you would not have to cut your hair.” Hmmm.

More good stuff – I went off to see yet another gold-plated Buddha and took a sunset cruise under a full moon on the Irrawaddy River. It’s gonna be hard to leave Bagan tomorrow.

December 13, 2008: That wonderful Ashley. She just e-mailed me a photo of baby Mena standing all by herself. Baby Mena had a dangerous look on her face, like, “I’m standing now. Don’t mess with me!” Baby Mena was fierce. Oh crap. She’s going to be walking by herself by the time I get home and I will have missed it.

Last night I did a lot of soul-searching about how I could possibly step up my “Benefit Sentient Beings” game. Not a clue. I think that just blogging and visiting war-torn countries isn’t producing enough good deeds. Plus doing that only leads to ego dreams of being famous. Reality check. I’m NOT in this life to be famous. I’m here to be nice. I wish I could think of more ways to make this world a better place.

Then my guide loaded me into his van, we kissed Bagan goodbye and drove off to the airport to fly to Mandalay. “This flight will take 20 minutes,” said the stewardess -- but apparently if you drove to Mandalay it would take at least seven hours over extremely bumpy roads.

I saw someone wearing an army uniform at the airport, someone obviously going home on leave. But still. It was the first military person I’ve seen so far here in Burma.

At lunch yesterday, I met an American who told me stories about serving in the American army in Burma right after World War II. “Aung San was the leader of the protests against the British right before World War II and he contacted the Japanese, thinking that they might help get rid of the British. The Japanese helped all right, but Aung San soon learned that the Japanese had their own agenda too.” And the Japanese turned out to be worse colonialists than the British.

“Aung San then switched allegiances back to the British, becoming the only person ever to serve as a general in both the Japanese and the British armies.” Then apparently Aung San was assassinated after Burma finally gained its freedom. “Aung San was assassinated when his daughter was only two years old. Her name is Aung San Su Chi.” I didn’t know that.

Now my plane is flying over a whole bunch of farmland and clouds. “We will be cruising at 7,000 feet.” There’s the Irrawaddy. It’s winding and snaking and huge – with many separate watercourses and islands, large islands, covered with farms. The Irrawaddy looks like an old river that has been around for a long time. My terror of flying is only counter-balanced by the spectacular view.

Crap. The second I took a photo out the window, the plane engines made a really weird sound. I’ve done it now. My electronic device has scuttled the plane! Holy crap. But it turned out to be only the airplane starting to make its decent. Whew. I shoulda taken some photos of the Irrawaddy.

A whole lot of people speak English here and a guy on the plane spoke excellent English. I asked him about the typhoon. “We had never experienced a storm like that. We just had no idea. We stayed in our house in Rangoon as the winds raged on and on. Trees were down everywhere but it didn’t look like anyone was killed. Then the radio announced two people were killed. Then we found out that in one area south of Rangoon, 7,000 were killed.”

“But why did the government refuse outside aid?”

“Because the government didn’t want any armies or even NGOs in Myanmar except their own because they are afraid of the public. They want the people to be poor so the people will be busy with their own problems and subsistence so the people won’t turn on the government. They especially don’t want the international community here or to see any foreign military presence.”

The official number who died in the typhoon is 150,00 but apparently the actual number is much higher. But the generals apparently do not care how many Burmese die because it doesn’t effect them. They are currently receiving three billion dollars from selling natural gas resources and none of that is going to pay for government services. All of it goes to the junta.

“Everyone in Burma hates the generals,” said this guy.

“Should you be saying this to me?” I asked him.

“I don’t care if something happens to me. I don’t care if I die. Things have reached that point in Burma – no one cares if they die if it will free the country.” That’s huge. I wonder if any Americans would die for their country if it meant we’d get rid of the corporate neo-con corruption in Washington that is currently eating America alive. Probably not.

“But if the generals don’t want internationals in Burma, why do they let in tourists?”

The guy shrugged. “The generals are changing their minds every minute.” And I also learned that Burma hasn’t any political prisoners either. “If someone gets out of line, they just slap him or her in jail because of a ‘felony’ – such as having a satellite dish or buying gas on the black market. Everyone does this but only the dissidents are charged as felons for doing it.”

Sounds like the generals are behind the times and don’t realize how easy it is to control people via public relations campaigns. Good PR is better than 5,000 armies. Just ask all the Americans who voted for Bush and still worship Ronald Reagan, a man who completely screwed the American working class and got away with it because he appeared to be folksy.

“Mandalay is the heart of the culture of Burma,” said my local guide as we drove along the shores of some gigantic lake. Now I’m spozed to walk out across the lake on the world’s longest footbridge. I shoulda brought a hat.

Lots of timeless stuff is going on here at the lake. Now I know how the plowing gets done – teams of oxen.

Then I went to another pagoda, took some more money-shots of the Buddha, scrambled back into our van and scurried off to a monastery where I was late for my appointment with the abbot or someone. I’ve always wanted to meet a Burmese abbot. I’m game.

Ah, the monastery. 1,300 monks. It was like taking a tranquilizer – instant calm. All the monks had toned it down a notch – perhaps several notches – and the serenity was very contagious. It was like that feeling you get after a swim, a sauna and a good massage. Maybe that’s what I should do with the rest of my life. Do they have Islamic nuns?

Ya know, Burma is a very Buddhist country. Duh.

Then I went to a marionette-making factory. Dolls! I love dolls. “This one is only three dollars.” It wore velvet and looked like it had been “Bedazzled”. I bought three of them. One for baby Mena’s budding doll collection, one for my other granddaughter who lives in Los Angeles and one for ME. When I get home, I’m gonna kick myself for not buying five more. Obviously I’m very pleased with my purchases.

“Sorry, no women allowed past this point,” a guard actually said to me when I went up front to photograph a gold-leaf-covered Buddha statue at our next temple stop. It must have had at least two billion dollars worth of gold leaf plastered onto his body -- or more. Anyway, it was humiliating to be thrown out. I don’t know how the statue felt about it but I bet the real Buddha would have been pissed.

Then I talked with some novice nuns at the temple. “We have been nuns all of our lives,” said the oldest, a 17-year-old. “I will be leaving the convent next year to attend the Buddhist university. All the classes there are taught in English.”

Over to the side of the gold-leaf Buddha, I passed by a display of enlarged photos of the generals praying in front of the statue. They would let THEM in but not me? Outrageous.

Then a seven-year-old boy came up to me, carrying a starving baby. I was horrified. Horrified. Was the baby starving because he had no food – or was the boy deliberately starving the baby so he could get money from tourists! I was outraged. I paced back and forth, back and forth in the aisle, desperate to decide what to do. Give the boy money or not? Finally I decided to give the boy money. But what I should have done was to grab the freaking baby and rush him off to the hospital. But the sight of the baby didn’t seem to bother anyone else.

The baby might have been as old as two or three years, but its legs were almost as thin as my pen. I was shocked to my core. I’ve never seen a starving baby before. And after this experience, I never ever want to even hear about any babies starving ever again. Babies are the universe’s gift to mankind. Horrors like this should NEVER happen to babies.

Later I asked my guide if he thought that the boy was running a scam. “Probably not. If anyone is actually starving in Burma, they can get fed one meal a day at any monastery. I think that baby had a disease. I myself gave the little boy money.”

My next stop was a gold-leaf-making factory where I got to watch these two young guys pounding out gold into thin strips. All day long, they slammed sledge hammers down onto sheets of gold until the sheets were reduced to gold leaf. I could hardly pick up the hammers, they were so heavy. But did these guys even look strained? Not at all. And they didn’t even have six-packs. I bought a one-inch-high wooden Buddha covered with gold leaf for only six dollars.

“How much does gold sell for per ounce over here?” I asked.

“Actually it is more expensive in Burma than on the international market because the demand for gold here is higher – not only because of the gold leaf for statues but also because there are very few secure banks here in Burma and so the people hoard gold instead of making deposits. So, because of the high demand, gold is brought in from Thailand and sold at a 5% profit.”

So much of Burma’s industry – if you can count making crafts as being industrial – is labor-intensive. Does Burma have any heavy industry? I’m not sure. Definitely not cars. Guns, I think. With 300,000 people in the army, I suppose there is a good market for making guns.

I also learned that in Mandalay, the Chinese population does all the smuggling – everything from gold and drugs to household appliances – and thus they have lots of money and have bought up most of the valuable property in downtown Mandalay, forcing the Burmese out toward the edges of town.

Then I drove up to the top of Mandalay Hill in the back of a pickup truck that went up the winding cliff road VERY FAST. “There’s no way I’m coming back down in that thing,” said one other American tourist in the truck. Right on!

At the summit of Mandalay Hill was a temple that took 999 steps to reach. And an escalator! And while I was up at the summit watching the sunset, a 12-year-old monk latched onto me. “I want to practice my English,” he said. So we chatted a bit about life in a monastery and watched the sunset together. “My monastery is down there,” said the monk, pointing way down below us, many miles away. “I walk up here every evening to practice English with the tourists.”

Then a very sweet little girl tried to sell me postcards but I bought her off by giving her a dollar if she would let me take her photo and then she joined me and the monk and then we all went off to the elevator to go back down the mountain. Power failure. The elevator didn’t work. So the monk and the little girl helped me hobble off down the stairs – very slowly.

In exchange for their help, I gave them a ride down the mountainside in our death-defying pickup truck, laughing all the way down. Between me and the monk and the little girl and our outrageous Mister-Toad’s-wild-ride in the truck, I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.

Back at my hotel, I struggled with the hotel’s internet for a while but it wasn’t worth the effort. Burma is too beautiful to waste more than a few moments trying to get Yahoo to work. Did I, me, Jane, the-internet-junkie, just say that? Yeah. Our entire hotel (The Red Canal Hotel) is made from carved teak – even the toilet seats.

December 14, 2008: Before I came here, I’d frequently heard that the Burmese junta – referred to here as “The Generals” or “the military regime” – supported and profited from the drug trade. But now that I’m here, I can’t see any evidence to prove anything to the contrary.

Next I went out for a drive in the countryside. Lots of agriculture. Lots of cows. “Burma used to export onions, garlic, potatoes and chickpeas to the neighboring countries like Thailand but, right now, prices are so low that farmers are suffering and can’t afford to grow their crops for the prices they are receiving,” said someone I met up on Mandalay Hill. But from the window of my van, everything looked completely bucolic.

There’s another puppy!

“During the monsoon, all of this farmland goes under water every year.”

There’s some pigs.

Next we drove past a whole bunch of villagers, standing around. “When the soil is dry, in the fall, villagers stage sports competitions, foot races for children.” We stopped and I took a whole bunch of photos, following this one puppy around for ten minutes before I could get a picture of him (or her) sitting still. Then I dropped my camera. Crap. I shoulda bought an ice cream for that little girl who picked it up for me. Some guy was selling ice cream cones off the back of his bicycle – hand-churned ice cream, pink cones. I want one too.

This country is scenic as hell.

Life seems to be very hard here but nobody seems to be starving.

At this point in time, all I can do is sit in the van and stare out the window, trying to take it all in. As Kipling said, “If you’ve heard the East a-callin’, you won’t never heed naught else.”

Then I popped onto a barge to go down-river, jumped off on the other side of the Irrawaddy, visited Inwa, a small village with clean toilets, and then hopped into another horse cart, feeling like George Orwell in “Burma Days”. Then we arrived at some kind of palace or something out in the middle of nowhere.

“The Ava dynasty lasted for 400 years,” said my guide. “A king fell in love with a village girl selling betel nuts and appointed her his chief queen.” Apparently that was the wrong thing to do. She became very powerful, which pissed off the king’s brother who then got up an army and put the queen in jail – and then he cut off her head. “But a monk tells her right before she dies that by dying this way she will be paying off all her karmic debts and now she will be free. So she died happy. Then her granddaughter became a great queen.”

But wait. The plot thickens. The granddaughter apparently turns out to be a schemer too and kills off all the other crown princes except for her son, who is unqualified to rule and manages to lose all of Burma to the British. Anyway, where we are now is the monastery that belonged to the monk who advised the village girl/queen two generations back. Did I get all that right? Probably not.

In any case, I got lost inside this empty, haunted monastery and called out my guide’s name. Nothing but echoes. Empty and haunted. Then, just as I began to feel the ghost of the headless queen closing in on me, my guide suddenly appeared. “Jane, where have you been? And where are your shoes?” The (ghost) queen took them?

Next I climbed up to the top of a bell tower – or at least I was supposed to climb up to the top of a bell tower. Forget that. I don’t do stairs. Plus it was the Burmese equivalent of the leaning tower of Pisa and didn’t look all that safe. I’ll just wait down below, contemplate nature out here in the farmland and hide out from the village children who want me to give them my pen and notebook and to practice their English on me.

“Money, please?”

In another bone-jarring horse cart, I rode past rice paddies on the way to the village’s monastery where I visited a classroom and listened to children chant the alphabet. The entire monastery was carved out of teakwood.

“This is where they make the pots that monks use to go out and beg for alms with.” The monks use large metal pots and the novices use lacquerware bowls. A small boy stood among the piles of pots, playing with a plastic machine gun. “The metal ones are made from recycled oil drums.”

Then we went back to the boat and sailed back to Mandalay to eat lunch at a Chinese restaurant called “The Peking Duck”. By then I was tired and hungry. This morning when I woke up, I really didn’t know if I could endure yet another day of intense touring – touring is hard work! But I not only held up okay but was really glad I came. Still and all, when I get back home to Berkeley I’m still gonna look into getting a wheelchair. My days of running off to Afghanistan and Iraq are definitely over. Crap.

On the way back to the restaurant, I looked at a map of Burma. Hey, Kipling is wrong. It’s impossible for the dawn to “come up like thunder outer China ‘crost the bay.” The freaking bay is hundreds of miles away from Mandalay. I read somewhere that Kipling never made it to Burma. However, he did go on to say that “the blasted English drizzle wakes a fever in my bones….” Ha! The weather in the U.S. right now is something like minus-forty degrees below zero. If that doesn’t get tourists to Burma, what will?

Meanwhile, back at The Peking Duck (which had a statue of Donald Duck on its front porch BTW), I got to talking with a local woman about heroin. “I have heard that Myanmar is famous for its heroin trade but I myself have never seen any signs of it here,” I said. But then I’ve lived in Berkeley for 42 years and I’ve never seen any signs of heroin there either.

“Other Southeast Asian countries make large profits off of Burma – they import our teak, jewels, natural gas, etc. But then they seem to deliberately slur Burma’s reputation,” said the woman -- after I had consumed a fine lunch of Peking duck, shrimp, chicken and four kinds of vegetables including a whole baked pumpkin filled with soup.

“Why would they do that?” I asked.

They do it because if U.S. companies refuse to trade with Burma, then Thailand, etc. make a greater profit by serving as the middleman.”

Next I went down by the docks, where whole bunches of people live on the shore of the river and whole bunches of people live on its boats. It is all organized confusion. “Which river is this?” I asked.

“It is still the Irrawaddy.”

Then I spent an hour listening to the low steady hum of the small diesel engine carrying my flatboat upstream and dozing and daydreaming about this and that and watching the water flow by. I saw some red-robed Buddhist novices swimming near the shore, heard children’s voices getting ready to shout, “Buy this necklace,” and swam up from my reverie and woke up.

I was at the next village, Mingun.

This one had some truly spectacular attractions and was well worth an hour’s boat ride. Scenic attraction number one: An artificial square mountain made of bricks. Scenic attraction number two: Shrine to a local monk with a photographic memory who had memorized the entire Pali Canon – all 17 books – and was mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records. Scenic attraction number three was a complex and gigantic representation of the Buddhist mythological Mount Mehru and its four continents. It was almost as large as a mountain itself and was all intricately carved and all white.

December 15, 2008: By the time I went to bed last night, my knees hurt so much that I was all ready to chuck it all in, go back home and be back in Berkeley in time to watch baby Mena take her first steps. But this morning I felt better and went outside my hotel to wait for the van in the fresh air – just in time to watch some boy monks making their alms rounds with their begging bowls. I gave each of them a dollar.

“Every morning,” said my guide later, “all the monks go out from the monasteries and ask for alms to buy food with and to ask for food as well. They go out every morning from 6:00 am to 9:00 am, and then at noon they all eat their communal one meal a day.” One meal a day! How do they DO that? I get to starving after only a few hours without food.

As I drove off to the Mandalay airport to fly back to Rangoon, I saw monks with begging bowls walking everywhere and monks – young and old – hanging off the backs of Mandalay’s truck-buses, pickup trucks with seats and a roof installed in the back.

All the planes at the airport were delayed by bad weather in Rangoon. Another typhoon? Hey, this delay is gonna cut into my shopping time in Rangoon. I still need some “Myanmar” T-shirts, that ruby ring that I saw back at the Scott Market and a soccer jersey for Ashley.

After I arrived in Rangoon, I asked my guide how the small teakwood cabins that we saw along the roadside on the way into town had survived the big typhoon. “Because Rangoon is further up the delta,” he replied, “this area didn’t receive the full force of the storm. But down in the lower part of the delta, whole villages were flattened within minutes, as if they had never existed.”

Ten minutes away from the Rangoon airport, I stopped to visit Burma’s three sacred white elephants. What a rip-off! They weren’t even white!

“The seven identifying marks of a white elephant are pink eyes, white tonsils, white nails, fur and skin, and white or clay-pot colored skin and sex organs, and a white tails.” None of these looked white to me.

“These elephants are the pride of Burma and vehicles for our kings.” Sort of a cross between our American eagle symbol and a Rolls-Royce. But there are no more kings left in Burma. I wonder if they are now being used as transportation for the generals? I can’t see that happening.

Further along the road in from the airport, we passed a large new housing development that can only be described as a bunch of McMansions. “How would the monks get through all that security with their begging bowls?” I asked. One of Burma’s unanswered mysteries I suppose.

Then our van drove through the area where Aung San Su Chi’s house was located but we couldn’t get close to it. If the generals were smart, they would make it into a tourist attraction and charge big bucks. She could give out autographs -- $100 a head. Would I pay $100 for her autograph? I’d have to think about that. Would having her autograph help me get a new set of knees? All I think about these days is how much my knees hurt and will they be this bad for the next 20-odd years and if I have knee-replacement surgery, will it work? And what will it feel like to have a bionic knee? Slimy.

“Here’s where they sell soccer jerseys,” said my guide and we piled out of the van to check them out, but the place only sold T-shirts. Sigh.

Then the van stopped again, my guide and I dashed across traffic into a sports equipment shop, snagged two “Myanmar” soccer jerseys and dashed back to the van. Whew! Those jerseys are awesome. Ashley will be so impressed. One is red with white lettering and the other is white with red lettering.

“In Burma, there are 139 separate tribes – each with their own customs and even languages. That’s why they call Burma ‘The Union of Myanmar’. We have three seasons here – monsoon, summer and winter.” The summertime apparently is very hot. It’s a good thing that we are leaving today because I think I have absorbed all the information about Burma that my brain can hold right now. Sorry, I take that back. One can never get enough of Burma. Well, maybe after a couple of years, maybe. Actually, I could see myself living here for the rest of my life – but only if they improved their internet service and my family lived here too.

“Over there is the religious market where the monks buy their robes and also where people can buy begging bowl sets to give to the monks.” They were wrapped in cellophane and looked like Easter baskets. “This area has a lot of monasteries because it is next to Rangoon’s main pagoda.”

Then our van drove down an alleyway past some burning trash and pulled into a parking lot. “Here is the Reclining Buddha.” It was originally built in 1903 and was apparently extremely ugly, but no one knew what to do about it until 1954 when it was finally replaced – and this one is truly beautiful. And big, too. It was at least one-half of a city-block long.

One monk I talked with here said, “Burmese people are born in this country so that they can get the greatest chance to both pay off their karmic debts and to reap their karmic rewards – all in the same place.” That makes sense. You can get that calm feeling and peace of mind from being a Buddhist here on the one hand and suffer typhoons and generals on the other.

The stone tablet at the Buddha’s feet read, “Not to do evil, to cultivate merit, to purify one’s mind – this is the teaching of the Buddhas. Not to revile, not to do any harm, to practice restraint in the fundamental precepts, to be moderate in taking food, to dwell in a secluded place, intent on higher thoughts – this is the teaching of the Buddhas.” Forbearing and patience is the highest moral practice.

The tablet went on to say, “A Bhikku does not harm others. One who harms others is not a Bhikku.” A Bhikku is a monk – but this might be a good practice for all human beings, especially corporation heads and politicians.

My last sight-seeing stop in Burma – if you would call it that – was at a Buddhist meditation center. “Lay-people can come here for seven days at a time and meditate here for free.” I myself am not very good at sitting still, but I’m all inspired that others can do it.

“Now we will drive by the new U.S. embassy on our way back to the airport.” I took some photos as we drove by. It wasn’t all THAT fortified. “You are not allowed to take photos,” said my guide. Oops. Too late. I hope I don’t get arrested again – like when I took that photo of the U.S. consulate in China. That was no fun. And is it ironic or not that four or five doors down from the U.S. embassy is the place where Aung San Su Chi is being held under house arrest. And this last stop was the end of my trip to Burma.

Er, no, one stop more – a shopping mall. Hugo Boss, Giordano, Police sunglasses, and even a Walgreens wannabe. I would have taken more photos but I got thrown out. Again. “No pictures!” But does anyone but me find it hilarious that Burma has a high-end American-style shopping mall too?

December 16, 2008: I woke up this morning in a fancy hotel in Thailand. “Our internet service costs $7.00 an hour.” Hell, it was half that cost in Burma. I miss Burma already. Oh well.

After Burma, Thailand is just so “ho-hum”. After breakfast, I went on a tour of Thailand’s royal palace. Yawn. I’m looking into the possibilities of taking a tour to Bangkok’s red light district instead. That might wake me up. But one nice thing happened on my tour of the Thai royal palace. When a platoon of soldiers marched by, I felt free to take their photos without being afraid of getting arrested. After having been forbidden to take photos of government installations in Iraq, Israel, China, North Korea, Burma and Washington DC, that was a nice change.

I figure that Burma is like Thailand 40 years ago – open, inexpensive and relatively tourist-free. Bangkok, however, is swarming with tourists. So I switched from taking photos of temples to taking photos of tourists instead.

Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore. She is currently contributing at OpEdNews and Ashin Mettacara.

By Stephen Fox


Their catastrophic indifference to cyclone survivors has unnecessarily
killed tens of thousands more; introduction by Ashin Mettacara, Burmese
Buddhist Monk living in Sri Lanka. Brinkley's understanding of Myanmar is
much deeper than most journalists. Joel Brinkley is a professor of
journalism at Stanford University and a former foreign policy correspondent
for the New York Times.



Madeleine Albright had this to say quite recently regarding Myanmar:

The Burmese government’s criminally neglectful response to last month’s
cyclone, and the world’s response to that response, illustrate three grim
realities today: totalitarian governments are alive and well; their
neighbors are reluctant to pressure them to change; and the notion of
national sovereignty as sacred is gaining ground, helped in no small part by
the disastrous results of the American invasion of Iraq. Indeed many of the
world’s necessary interventions in the decade before the invasion—in places
like Haiti and the Balkans—would seem impossible in today’s climate….The
global conscious is not asleep, but after the turbulence of recent years, it
is profoundly confused. Some governments will oppose any exceptions to the
principle of sovereignty because they fear criticism of their own policies.
Others will defend the sanctity of sovereignty unless and until they again
have confidence in the judgment of those proposing exceptions. At the heart
of the debate is the question of what the international system is. Is it
just a collection of legal nuts and bolts cobbled together by governments to
protect governments? Or is it a living framework of rules intended to make
the world a more human place? We know how the government of Myanmar would
answer that question, but what we need to listen to is the voice and cry of
the Burmese people.
for more details, please go to:http://www.prlog.org/ 10078576-myanmar-
generals-tried-for-cyclone- victims-genocide-joel- brinkley-stanford-
university.html

INTRODUCTION: How many of us have to die for your diplomatic game? Myanmar
Buddhist Monk, Ashin Metacarra [see also: http://ashinmettacara-
eng.blogspot.com] The United Nations has been diplomatically trying to
persuade Burma leaders for a long time. They tried by sending envoys. They
talked with beautiful diplomatic words, but people have already known in
advance that they cannot realistically hope for anything before the UN
envoys come. The UN could not do anything for Burma. They could not count
even the deaths after last September’s uprising. Since then we have deeply
disappointed by the UN's failure.

The United Nations is likely very afraid of confrontation with China and
Russia. Whenever both China and Russia say no, the United Nations was unable
to change to say yes. They are always accepting and showing a kind
of “obedience” to China and Russia. Were there any severe words or
correcting comments made by UN leaders to Burma leaders? They have no
authority to change Burma into a nation based on democracy. So the world is
very dangerous under the leadership of cowards. I wonder why most of the
world seems content to be merely on-lookers for the Burmese people who are
persecuted. They have no weapons and not like others. They are relatively
helpless now. They want to freely survive like you. Even Buddhist monks who
stay away from killing are also longing for US, UK and France to enter the
country by force. Why? Because they want to see the people with enough food
to continue to survive. You cannot diplomatically persuade Burmese military
leaders to give up their kingships. Even the Buddha and the Gods will be
unable to preach to them or to guide them. They regard themselves as the
best players. They have already decided how to win tomorrow's match.
Remember that you cannot win by playing with them without weapons, but only
with the help of weapons. What is Ban Ki Moon's suggestion? Isn’t it clear
that he is just playing a diplomatic game? If so, how many of us have to die
for his diplomatic game?

BRINKLEY: Almost 30 years ago, my editor dispatched me to Cambodia to cover
the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and the resulting refugee holocaust. The
images of babies with swollen bellies and only a few days left to live,
emaciated and lethargic adults dying from typhoid, cholera or worse have
hung with me to this day. Now, three decades later, the United Nations and
the Cambodian government are staging a genocide tribunal for several
surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. 2 million Cambodians died during the Khmer
Rouge reign - most of them from disease and starvation.

One country away, in Burma, more than 1 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis
have now gone without food, medicine, clean water or sanitation services for
more than four weeks. Though Burma's military dictators won't allow anyone
to see, babies' bellies are beginning to swell, and listless adults are
slipping away, victims of cholera, dysentery or worse. Tens of thousands are
likely to die - most of them from disease and starvation.

The fault for all of this lies squarely on Gen. Than Shwe's shoulders.

It is past time that the United Nations started planning a genocide tribunal
for Shwe, the Burmese leader, and his fellow thugs.The case is clear; the
verdict already known. In Cambodia, prosecutors are digging through musty,
incomplete records and relying on testimony from feeble, octogenarian
witnesses. In Burma, all the evidence prosecutors would need is in the
newspapers and on TV.

Put together, it displays a callous disregard for human life so stunning
that it would probably embarrass Kim Jung Il, Robert Mugabe - perhaps even
Omar al- Bashir, the president of Sudan.

Here's the dossier: On May 20, Shwe promised Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-
general, he would finally allow aid workers to deliver food and medicine to
cyclone victims - three weeks after the storm. The next day, Shwe ordered
his troops to sweep through the Irrawaddy Delta and evict cyclone victims
from the few buildings that remained standing so they could be used as
polling places.

Then soldiers pushed and prodded hungry and sick Burmese to vote in a sham
referendum intended to extend Shwe's time in office, and sometimes filled in
their ballots for them. Last Sunday, soldiers ordered cyclone victims to
dismantle makeshift shelters they had put up near main roads to escape the
floodwaters. The soldiers said they were unsightly.

Meanwhile, the International Red Cross reported that rivers and ponds in the
delta remained clotted with corpses. On Tuesday, UNICEF noted that Burmese
children were drinking from these fetid ponds. They had no other source of
water. Even before the storm, Save the Children said it had identified
30,000 malnourished children in the affected areas.

Many of them, the group said a few days ago, "may already be dying for lack
of food." In Rangoon, meanwhile, when Ban proposed a donors conference for
reconstruction aid, Shwe's government suddenly perked up and said Burma
would be delighted to host it. Save our people, no; give us money - sure!
Representatives from more than 50 countries attended the conference last
Sunday.

Gen. Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister, told them he would happily take
their money. As for finally allowing aid workers in, he said, "we will
consider allowing them in if they wish to engage in rehabilitation and
reconstruction work." The government's relief operations have come to an
end, he insisted. Burma is shifting its focus to rebuilding and
reconstruction. So much for Shwe's promise to Ban. So much for 100,000 sick
and dying people.

Last week, Burma admitted about 40 more aid workers - while throwing up
onerous restrictions on their work. For weeks, Shwe had refused even to take
Ban's phone calls. Finally, Ban decided simply to show up. So the military
set up a Potemkin refugee camp complete with crisp green tents and shiny new
cookware. When Sein took Ban there a week later, reporters noticed that
cooking oil jars remained sealed and store labels were still affixed to the
frying pans.

The New York Times reported that soldiers had used dynamite to rid the
streams of unsightly corpses in the areas Ban visited. Now, a month after
the storm, the United Nations estimates that fewer than half of the sick and
starving cyclone victims have received even the first dollop of aid, while
the generals insist that it's time to give up on the victims and start
putting up new buildings.

If the world were a just place, then the first building project would be a
prison to hold Shwe and his fellow thugs - after their genocide trial.


Authors Bio: In 1980, Stephen Fox founded New Millennium Fine Art, a Santa
Fe gallery specializing in Native American and Landscape, and is very active
in New Mexico Legislative consumer protection politics, trying above to get
the FDA to rescind its approval for the neurotoxic and carcinogenic
artificial sweetener, Aspartame. [http://www.prlog.org/10070694] In a
strictly legislative context, his most important writing has been for the
Hawaii Senate: http://www.prlog.org/10056715- hawaii-senate In his capacity
as Contributing Editor of the Santa Fe Sun News, Fox recently interviewed
Mikhail Gorbachev: http://www.prlog.org/10064349- mikhail-gorbachev He has
been adamant and resourceful about exposing the charlatans of the sometimes-
organic food movement. Take the time to read this press release concerning
California Attorney General Jerry Brown's suits against Whole Foods, Avalon,
and others, for either knowingly or negligently adding a deadly carcinogen
to their body care products and soap, as in Whole Foods 365 Label products:
http://www.prlog.org/10079593 He cordially invites all Op Ed News readers to
visit New Mexico in 2008!

(Aktualne) A group of sixteen Burma refugees arrived in cold Prague Thursday morning. Dressed warmly to face the 30 degree drop of temperature between Malaysia and Prague, they said that they were happy to be here and looking forward to joining their friends who arrived a few months earlier.

Last October saw 23 Burmese refugees arrive in the country. They came as part of the refugee resettlement program that the Czech government adopted in June 2008.

The Czechs thus joined the international communities in "solving the global refugee problems not only at a national level but also in the international context", as said by the interior ministry's spokesperson Jana Malíková.

Strong motivation

The Burmese refugees who have been assigned an "asylum status" are put in an integration centre where they attend integration courses, such as Czech language and basic information about the country. According to Marta Miklušáková from Prague's UNHCR all the refugees in the first group are doing fine.

"They are slowly learning how to speak Czech," said Miklušáková.

After they finish the integration program, they will start living among Czechs. Towns that cooperate with the interior ministry on integration programs will find "integration apartments" for them, which the refugees will have to pay for themselves.

"They will have to find a job, which may not be easy but they are strongly motivated," Sabe Soe of Burmese Centre Praha told Aktuálně.cz.

Brand new life

Not fearing lack of jobs for the Burmese refugees amid the economic crisis, Miklušáková agrees with the strong motivation factor. "They went through horrible things and they are motivated very much to integrate in the Czech society," added Miklušáková.

All the Burmese refugees come from Chin State which is located in the north-west of Burma. The Chin are of Sino-Tibetan race and they practice Christianity. They fled Burma for Malaysia, a popular destination for Burmese refugees. However, Malaysia does not recognise the status of refugee and therefore does not guarantee the fundamental human, social, cultural and economic rights.

Among the new arrivals were two small babies who will start a brand new life in the Czech Republic. "We are very much looking forward to give our babies the opportunity to have a new life in a safe and friendly place", their mothers said.

By Muchacho Enfermo



A few months ago I came across a blog by a young man named Ashin Mettacara. The man whose website you are reading this text is published. Back then I was a complacent observer, a bystander, a man horrified at the atrocities of the world from the confines of his basement living room. Now I’m angry man with a keyboard who has finally discovered citizen journalism and his highly acute sense of right and wrong. I am no in way shape or form a writer, or a journalist, or a philosopher. What I am is someone who up until very recently had lost faith in the world; I say recently because a few short months ago I discovered that there were people in the world that are worth defending and others that are worthy of opposition.

Through the website of Ashin I discovered the plight of the Burmese. Like most other Canadians who rely on mainstream media for news and information about the world, I thought the Saffron Revolution was over. I thought that the monks and the people who joined them to protest the junta had been at least semi-successful because the news no longer reported about them being beaten and arrested. Like most people, I put it out of my head and I almost completely forgot about it. Thinking about it only if someone ever brought it up and then I’d say something along the lines of “I hope they do something about that... it’s just so wrong.”

Then one day I figured out that there was no “they” and that some people, not so unlike me, were doing something about it. They were writing, blogging, reporting, at the risk of their own safety and at the risk of their families’ freedom. They were sitting in temples, in cafes and in writing from their cellular phones. The way the images of the protests in Burma over a year ago had been shot from cellular phone cameras. They were the very definition of citizen journalists. These were the people who had become the mythical “they”... They were the ones trying to help themselves, trying to broadcast their message to a world that didn’t listen or didn’t care. They were the people that I wanted to help.

Any of us can give money to amnesty international and feel great, anyone of us can have a “free Tibet” bumper sticker and think that we’re creatures of the world that care about our fellow man. Up until a few months ago I was one of those people (minus the bumper sticker). Now I know what I’m doing... I am writing almost everyday about things that happen all over the world that no moral person should rightly be able to accept. I sit at my laptop and read emails from around the world, read news and enter discussions and then I blog about it. It’s not enough though. It’s not exactly what the world needs. But at least everyday I am donating my time, I am receiving messages from those trapped behind enemy lines and I make sure that their words escape into the vast global community that is the internet.

Imagine a world where everyone living in privilege (i.e. living in the free world) donated 15 minutes per day or even per week to a cause like Burma, or any other cause. Imagine a world where every government was held accountable by everyone? Can you imagine the fear that would be driven in the heart of the corrupt, the cruel, the vile and the unjust if the billions of citizen with access to a computer suddenly stood together and called them out? As the old song says "If the kids are united they can never be devided." Ladies and gentlemen... this is the time; this is the moment to take up your keyboards and make the world accountable!

Burma, Myanmar, Thailand, UNHCR: US, 'must stop it and shut up'

Rohingya news is everyday. Some lunatic peopel are loudly shouting at Burma and Thailand.
I respect the human rights, but the news is too much.



Who can stop these boats?
Who created it and changed it into international problem?
We need to find out the root of problem. We are trying to restore democracy and human rights in Burma. But this Rohingy problem is a hindrance to the politicians and activists , it has been taken place in the air, being crawled, included by many news , our political news are going down. Many people do not understand , many bloggers, reporters , and the exile radios also do not know what may happen in Burma. They only know the news is the news. Yes, the news is your income.

Trouble makers:

1. Burma, Thai?
2.Rohingya itself?
3.UNHCR, NGOs, US?

Source from BBC:
Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said the Rohingya's treatment was "a matter of concern" to the US.

"Alright, but your loudspeaker diplomacy is a matter of conflict" bringing into Burmese Buddhists and Thai Buddhists.

You can recognise Rohingya as Burmese, but you have to take full responsibility for the consequences. The whole of Bangladesh will also become Rohingyas to flee to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand in boats. Many boats are from Bangladesh, but not from Burma.

I do not care who you are . I would like to request you not to continue to practice loudspeaker diplomacy in the future. Especially I have to consider UNHCR as the first problem maker about this case, and the United States is also making small problem into big problem.
I am sure the United Nations and the United States are practicing loving-kindness. Therefore you should invite all the Rohigyas to the United States as the special guests. This percel of problem is for you. But you should not give it to the other countries.


If the religous conflict brought into Burma in the near future, the United Nations and the United States should be considered as the first trouble makers.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Myanmar: UN envoy leaves Burma without meeting top leader

By Ashin Mettacara

The UN envoy to Burma Mr Gambari ended for his seventh trips without meeting country's top leader Senior General Than Shwe, but he met with Prime Minister General Thein Sein on Tuesday afternoon. He arrived on Saturday aiming to urge the junta to initiate the process of national reconciliation.

Mr Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday and members of the central executive committee of the National League for Democracy.

On Saturday and Sunday he also met Foreign Minister Nyan Win, liaison minister Aung Kyi, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, Minister for Health Dr. Kyaw Myint, UN official delegations, and pro-junta civilian organizations including Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and other diplomats in Yangon.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Burma's Suu Kyi says UN cheif should not come back for nothing

By Ashin Mettacara

Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with the UN envoy Mr Gambari on Monday morning.

The meeting between Suu Kyi and UN envoy Gambari took place at the goverment guest house in Yangon. Five senior memmbers of NLD party also attended at the meeting and lasted more than an hour.

The Nobel Peace prize laureate 's minimum requirement is the release of all the political prisonsers before the UN chief revisit to Burma. She also criticized Mr Bam Ki-Moon's trip , and her purpose of the discussion with the UN envoy is to review the new constitution, to honor the results of the 1990 election , the source said.

Mr Gambari told diplomats earlier that his objectives are to urge the release of political prisoners, discuss the country's ailing economy and revive a dialogue between Suu Kyi and the junta. But his current visit is preparing for another visit by Mr Ban Ki-Moon. This is for the seventh trips to Burma for him. The previous trips were unsuccessful, Mrs Suu Kyi refused to meet him in last August. Mr Gambari will proceed to Nay Pyidaw city on Tuesday, but it is unclear whether he would see country ruling junta leader Than Shwe.

The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy movement. It held elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results after Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory

Burma, Myanmar: RSF launches petition demanding the release of two Burmese bloggers

By Ashin Mettacara


Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Wednesday launched a petition for two Burmese bloggers, Nay Phone Latt and Zaganar who got long term jail.

On Nov 14,2008

A 24-year-old female journalist Ma Eint Kahing Oo from Econ Vision Wewkly Journal has been jailed 2 years for covering Nargis cyclone news, a poet Saw Wai from Weeky Love Journal has been jailed 2 years for mocking the military leader General Than Shwe.

On Nov 28, 2008

A 28-year-old felmale freelance journalist Ma Nobel Aye was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, and two other male journalists, U Thet Zin Sein Win Maung were also sentenced to 7 imprisonment each.

More than 20 journalists including bloggers have been sentenced within the three weeks of November 2008. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military.

The press release from RSF:

Reporters Without Borders urges the international community not to forget Nay Phone Latt (http://www.nayphonelatt.net/)
, a Burmese blogger who was arrested exactly one year ago today and was sentenced on 10 November to 20 years and six months in prison, or Zarganar, one of Burma's best known comedians, who is serving a 59-year jail sentence in appalling conditions for criticising the military government online.

"On this sad anniversary for Nay Phone Latt, we are launching petition for his and Zarganar's release," Reporters Without Borders said. "They did nothing to deserve these punishments and must be freed. Nay Phone Latt's only crime was to be caught in possession of a film regarded as subversive by the military government. Zarganar was convicted solely for expressing his views."

The press freedom organisation added: "Their trials were farces organised by special courts that take their orders directly from the government. The international community, especially UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, who is due to visit Burma shortly, need to pay close attention to what is going on."

Aged 28, Nay Phone Latt was arrested on 29 January 2008 with several members of the opposition National League for Democracy, who were released a few hours later. He received a combined jail sentence of 20 years and six months on 10 November from a special court inside Insein prison that was headed by judge Daw Soe Nyaam.

The sentence consisted of two years for violating article 505 (b) of the Criminal Code (which punishes defamation of the state), three years and six months for violating article 32 (b) of the Video Act and 15 years for violating article 33 (a) of the Electronic Act. He is suffering from eye problems but has not been allowed to see a doctor. He is due for release in 2028.

Zarganar, who kept a blog that was widely read by Burmese Internet users both in Burma and abroad, was arrested on 5 June 2008 for writing in his blog about the widespread criticism of the government's relief efforts after the country was devastated by a cyclone the previous month. Sentenced to 45 years in prison under the Electronic Act by the Insein prison court on 21 November 2008, he was given an additional 14-year jail sentence for unspecified "offences" six days later. He is due to be released in 2067.

Nay Phone Latt and Zarganar were awarded a special press freedom prize by Reporters Without Borders on 4 December.

Sign the petition : (click)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Myanmar: Burma's Junta Denies Honor to Whom Honor is Due

By Stephen Fox

Both within and outside of Burma, Burmese people, friends and family marked
the centennial celebration of the birthday of former United Nations Secretary General U Thant on 22 January.

In Burma's capital Yangon, the Burmese national hero, U Thant's 100th
birthday commemoration was held at the Inya Lake Hotel on Thursday evening.
The birthday anniversary celebration was organized by the U Thant Institute
and Aye Aye Thant, daughter of U Thant, who is also the president of the
Institute.

NLD party members, UN representatives, and foreign diplomats attended to the
events. Mr Bishow Parajuli, the resident UN humanitarian coordinator, read
out a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the ceremony, sources
said.

U Thant was born in Pantanaw, Burma (Myanmar) on 22 January 1909.

When U Nu became the Prime Minister of the newly independent Burma, he asked
Thant to join him in Rangoon and appointed him as Director of Broadcasting
in 1948. In the following year he was appointed Secretary to the Government
of Burma in the Ministry of Information. From 1951 to 1957, Thant was
Secretary to the Prime Minister, writing speeches for U Nu, arranging his
foreign travel, and meeting foreign visitors. During this entire period, he
was U Nu's closest confidant and advisor.

He also took part in a number of international conferences and was the
secretary of the first Asian-African summit in 1955 at Bandung, Indonesia
which gave birth to the Non-Aligned Movement. From 1957 to 1961, he was
Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and became actively
involved in negotiations over Algerian independence. In 1960 the Burmese
government awarded him the title Maha Thray Sithu as a commander in the
order of Pyidaungsu Sithu.

He was the first Asian Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of
the United Nations, from 1961 to 1971. He accomplished many great things.

During the first term he was widely credited for his vital role in defusing
the Cuban Missile Crisis and for ending the civil war in the Congo.

During the second term, he established many of the UN's development and
environmental agencies, funds and programmes, including the UN Development
Programme (UNDP), the UN University, UNCTAD, United Nations Institute for
Training and Research (UNITAR), and the UN Environmental Programme.

He had also led many successful though now largely forgotten mediation
efforts, for example in Yemen in 1962 and Bahrain in 1968. In each case, war
would have provoked a wider regional conflict, and it was Thant's quiet
mediation which prevented war.

U Thant retired after ten years, still on speaking terms with all the big
powers. In 1961 when he was first appointed, the Soviet Union had tried to
insist on a troika formula of three Secretaries-General, one representing
each Cold War bloc, a self serving plan which would have maintained equality
in the United Nations between the superpowers. By 1966, when Thant was re-
elected to a second term, all of the big powers, in a unanimous vote of the
Security Council, affirmed the importance of his tenure as Secretary-General
and his good offices, a clear tribute to Thant's outstanding work.

The Six Day War between Arab countries and Israel, the Prague Spring, and
subsequent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the Indo-Pakistani War of
1971 leading to the birth of Bangladesh all took place during his tenure as
Secretary-General.

On January 23, 1971, U Thant emphatically announced that he would "under no
circumstances" run for a third term as Secretary-General. For weeks, the UN
Security Council was deadlocked over the search for a successor before
finally settling on Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General on
December 21, 1971—Waldheim's 53rd birthday—and just ten days before U
Thant's second term was to have ended.

U Thant Crisis:

U Thant died of lung cancer in New York on November 25, 1974. When his body
was brought back to Yangon, then called Rangoon, for burial, former military
dictator General Ne Win refused it national honours.

On the day of U Thant's funeral on December 5, 1974, tens of thousands of
people lined the streets of Rangoon to pay their last respects to their
distinguished countryman whose coffin was displayed at Rangoon's Kyaikasan
race course for a few hours before the scheduled burial.

The coffin of U Thant was then snatched by a group of students just before
it was scheduled to leave for burial in an ordinary Rangoon cemetery. The
student demonstrators buried U Thant on the former grounds of the Rangoon
University Students Union (RUSU), which Ne Win had dynamited and destroyed
on July 8, 1962.

During the period of December 5–11, 1974, the student demonstrators also
built a temporary mausoleum for U Thant on the grounds of the RUSU and gave
anti-government speeches. In the early morning hours of December 11, 1974,
government troops stormed the campus, killed some of the students guarding
the make-shift mausoleum, removed U Thant's coffin, and reburied it at the
foot of the Shwedagon Pagoda, where it has continued to remain to this day.

Upon hearing of the storming of the Rangoon University campus and the
forcible removal of U Thant's coffin, many people rioted in the streets of
Rangoon. Martial law was declared in Rangoon and the surrounding
metropolitan areas. What has come to be known as the "U Thant Crisis" — the
student-led protests over the shabby treatment by the Ne Win government of U
Thant in memoriam — was crushed by the Burmese government.

Recently, the "Myanmar Thit" monthly magazine was rejected for putting a
portrait of former UN Secretary General U Thant on the cover. The military's
junta censor board also rejected two articles written by U Thant.

Unlike Burma's junta, the United Nations is planning to issue commemorative stamps in honour of U Thant on 6 February. U Thant is worthy to be honored, in fact revered as one of Asia's most venerable diplomats.


The Buddha also said in the Mangala Sutta, "Puja ca pujaneyyanam," which
means to give honor to whom honor is due. The New Light of Myanmar, daily
news paper run by the ruling junta is covering this sutta everyday, but they
don't know it exactly, nor do they ever follow the teachings of the Buddha.

Family:

U Thant was married to Daw Thein Tin, and is survived by a daughter, four
grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His only grandson, Thant Myint-
U, is a historian and a senior official in the UN's Department of Political
Affairs and the author of The River of Lost Footsteps, in part a biography
of U Thant. Named for him

The U Thant Peace Award acknowledges and honours individuals or
organizations for distinguished accomplishments toward the attainment of
world peace.

The embassy road, Jalan U Thant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is named after him.
A tiny island in the East River opposing the headquarters of the United
Nations, U Thant Island, is named for him.

U Thant Honorary Lecture Series has been held regularly at the United
Nations University (UNU) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan.

United Nations University (UNU) Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan has named their
premiere conference facility after him.

The United Nations International School faculty votes to elect a Junior as
the U Thant Scholar, equivalent to valedictorian. The 2008-2009 scholar is
Maya Kurien


______________________________
Editor's Note: In his memorable book, Search for Peace, described the chain
of events that was the saddest to me in his life, and those were his efforts
to contact and discuss with USA President Lyndon Baines Johnson, to talk
about how the war in Vietnam could be ended, which deeply grieved U Thant
not only as a Southeast Asian, but as a Buddhist. He was continually and
totally ignored by Johnson over many years, who never once agreed to meet
and talk with him. -Stephen Fox, Political Editor New Mexico Sun News

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Burma, Myanmar: Sri Lanka-based Burmese Media Website Attacked

The website of Ashin Mettacara (www.ashin-mettacara.com) came under attack on Tuesday and early Wednesday. The site was unavailable for several hours.

The hacker was trying to shut down the site from the internet, but the attack was only changing the index files again and again.



At the same time, the four other websites including People Media Voice were also hacked similar attack to the Ashin Mettacara. The attack lasted about 6 hours .


The hackers can be considered as the pro-military hackers who are currently studying in China and Russia . They are very often hacking the Myanmar news websites because they are scared of monks and medias since last year September.

The Indian hackers were also suspected of orchestrating the attack because most of the visitors for today are from India.

The website, (www.ashin-mettacara.com) is hosted by a blogger monk Ashin Mettacara who recently won the Best Asian Blog for 2008. Ashin Mettacara is a Sri Lanka-based progressive/liberal news, activism and Opinion website founded in early December 2008.
Ashin Mettacara has some unique features no other progressive sites have such as being one of the 4500 websites approved by Google news and therefore all articles are crawled by Google.

Burma, Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi receives Trumpet of Conscience award

WASHINGTON: Burmese democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been presented with the prestigious Trumpet of Conscience Award for leading the people of her country in the fight against the military junta.



The annual award is given by Realising the Dream, a non-profit organization set up by Martin Luther King III in honour of his father great Martin Luther King Jr. The award is given on the occasion of birth anniversary of the great American leader. Monday happens to be his 80th birthday.

At a glittering function held last evening, a few blocks away from the US capitol, the award was presented by Queen Noor of Jordan to Aung Ding, executive director of US Campaign for Burma, on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi.

In his speech, Aung Din hoped that President-elect Barack Obama will uphold existing economic sanctions and lead a strong diplomatic effort to organize international community to put collective pressure on Myanmar's military

Friday, January 16, 2009

Burma: The 2008 Weblog Awards Winners

The Weblog Award winners for the 2008 announced on Jan 15. Here are the winners of International Weblog Awards:

International Weblog Awards:

Best UK Blog	Created in Birmingham
Best European Blog (Non UK)	The Reference Frame
Best Asian Blog	Ashin Mettacara
Best Middle East or Africa Blog	Michael J. Totten
Best Australia or New Zealand Blog	Tim Blair
Best Latino, Caribbean, or South American Blog	Dolar Paralelo

Special thanks to all of the medias, bloggers , blog readers and voters. I cannot win this Best Asian Blog Award without their support.

Thank you as well to everyone who congratulated me, sent e-mails and left comments.

You can visit the 2008 Weblog Awards ' Winners Page to find all the winners of 48 .

Burma: India Uncut congratulates Ashin Mettacara

India Uncut blogger and Bastiat prize winner Amit Varma


India Uncut is a popular Indian weblog turned website published by Bastiat prize winner Amit Varma.

The original India Uncut began as a blog in December 2004. Amit Varma was then managing editor of Cricinfo, but decided to shift to being a consultant so that he would have more time to do his own writing. Amit's experimentation with a new medium took off and gained more readers than he had anticipated.



India Uncut 's blogger Mr. Amit Varma is a writer based in Mumbai. Mr. Varma won the 2007 Bastiat Prize for Journalism , and his blog India Uncut also won the Best Indiblog Award at the Indibloggies in 2005.
India Uncut was also Nominated for best Asian blog and has been selected the finalist 2008 weblog awards. The blog was leading over Ashin Mettacara's blog during the contest, but finished a close second.

India Uncut blogger Amit Varma congratulates Burmese blogger Ashin Mettacara.
Mr. Varma said, "I'm very happy for you. I hope many more successes lie ahead for you, especially in the larger battle to free Burma. Your friends and the Burmese people must be very proud of you, and I'm sure they'll have reason to remain so in the years to come."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Burma, Myanmar: Blog Award Confirms Final Result For Best Asian Blog

The Weblog Award has mentioned today voting for The 2008 Weblog Awards is now over. This year's turnout was simply amazing; 3.2 million page views, 2 million visitors, and 933,022 votes cast in 48 categories.


My blog ( Ashin Mettacara ) was nominated as the Best Asian Blog on November 3, and has been selected as the finalist award.

Mr. Kevin said ," The results are now final and will be announced Thursday".

Therefore I won the Best Asian Blog with 3383 vote total and 41.2 %.

The 2nd-placed India Uncut also should be the winner, the site was playing an important role during the Mumbai terrorist attack.
But the opponents did not know medias and supporters were 100% behind me and my country (Burma).
Today we show the world our unity, and we get the power to restore democracy and human rights in Burma.

Finally I would like to say thanks to all the Burmese medias , bloggers, supporters , voters and blog readers.

Let me say “ YES, WE CAN”.

You can visit the final result page to find all the finalist winners and runners-up.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Burma, Myanmar: Thank You Google

Today is my happiest day in my life . Because my dream and hope have arrived. Google News starts to include the news from my site for the first time.
www.ashinmettacara.org has also been approved by NewsNow and displayed by Reuters. All the news and articles from Ashin Mettacara are being crawled by Newsnow. From today, all the news and article from Ashin Mettacara will be directly crawled Google News and NewsNow.
So I would like to invite you all to come and contribute your news on my site.

Thank you Google Team For Your Supporting.

Go to: www.ashin-mettacara.com

Monday, January 12, 2009

Burma: Myanmar Blog Academy Award 2008 Winners Announced

By BMAA

The first ever Myanmar Blog Award have arrived! Myanmar Blog Academy Award 2008 Programme site mmblogpress.com has announced the winners in all 11 of the competition's categories.


Myanmar Blog Academy Award 2008 Programme was organized with the five young Myanmar bloggers, to honor the best Myanmar bloggers. Being named a Myanmar Blog Academy Award (MBAA) Winner can be the crowning achievement of a lifetime of work or it can be the beginning of a new chapter in the life of a blogger. Presentation of these awards can bring acclaim and notoriety beyond their wildest imaginings. The accolades and praise heaped upon winners of these prestigious awards can be best described as fabulous and the stuff of legends.


Below are the complete list of winners:

Best Association Blog : Ko Moe Thee
Best Charity Blog : Better Tomorrow
Best Education Blog : Ma Thet Zin
Best General Blog : Nine Nine Sanay
Best Literature Blog : Mindin
Best Religion Blog : The Teachings of the Buddha
Best Myanmar Literature Blog : Existencemgz
Best Myanmar Poem Blog : Kaung Kin Ko
Best News Blog : The New Era Journal
Best Political Blog : Niknayman
Best Blog About Blogging : Nyi Lynn Seck

More than 150 blogs were nominated for this year, and announced the winners with the total votes cast: 7715.

MBAA members mmblogpress.com, thanked the sponsors of the awards: Technical seven, KaNaung Wed-Design, RSF and BMA.

You can visit the Myanmar Blog Academy Award 2008 ' Winners Page to find all the winners and runners-up. You're sure to find a lot of great blogs there!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Burma, Myanmar: YES , WE CAN WIN THIS AWARD

My blog was also nominated for the Best Asian Blog, and reached to the finalist. The nominees who honored with these finalist award are also trying to get the votes in their own way.
A well-known Cuba blogger Yoani Sánchez was also nominated for the Best Latino, Caribbean, or South American Blog, and reached to finalist. She is now leading the votes with 319 . I voted her blog.


So far my blog is going with 275 votes. So I would like to give Obama's message to my all blog readers " Yes, We Can".

To vote: http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-asian-blog/ ( click)

Hot news on this blog award:

Burmese blogger in running to win "Best Asian Blog" (click)

Vote for Ashin Mettacara (click)

2008 Weblog Awards - Ashin Mettacara Nominated as best Asian blog! (click)

2008 Weblog Awards (click)

Why you shold vote for Ashin Mettacara (click)

Burmese Buddhist monk, Ashin Mattacara, (click)

Burmese Buddhist monk shortlisted for blog award (click)

2008 Web Blog Award Finalist Ashin Mettacara (click)

2008 Weblog Awards Endorsements (click)

The 2008 Weblog Awards Polls Open Now (click)

India Uncut Is Nominated In The 2008 Weblog Awards (click)

People-Media-Voice (click)

Chitte Manaw Myae (click)

Mindin ( click)

KomawBurma (click)

Lanka-msma (click)

Wanna23 (click)

Arzarni ( click)

Saiwunna.focusburma (click)

Co2zenith (click)

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Burma, Myanmar: Launching the New Website on New Year' Day

By Ashin Mettacara

Today is the first day of the new year. January 1 marks the end of a period of remembrance of a particular passing year, especially on radio, television, and in newspapers, which usually starts right after Christmas Day. Publications often have year-end articles that review the changes during the previous year. Common topics include politics, natural disasters, music and the arts, and the listing of significant individuals who died during the past year. Often there are also articles on planned or expected changes in the coming year, such as the description of new laws that often take effect on January 1.

On this new day, I would like to launch my newest website(ashin-mettacara.com) for the freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. It is to find the new way for me to reintroduce democracy and human rights in Burma. I am not a polical monk , but I am a Buddhist monk to help the world for the betterment of the teachings of the Buddha, and for the welfare of all beings. My great expectation in this year 2009 is to spread more news about Buddhism and Burma to the whole world.

I would like to say " Happy New Year" , and wish you all the same things.

Also, I would like to express my sense of gratitude to Contributing Editor Stephen Fox, who in fact introduced me to write the news about Burma, for all the help given me, for his kindness in writing the message on my new website.

Message from Mr. Stephen Fox:

Perhaps about a year ago, I got an elaborate email from Burmese Buddhist Monk Ashin Mettacara, studying in Sri Lanka.

I recognized right away the fellow's writing and journalistic ability, but above all his intent to get the truth about the abuse of the Burmese people and the Buddhist Monks and Nuns, by the ruling military Junta of Myanmar. These generals are monsters in terms of both human rights and in genocide of their own people. They are backed by China, which is doing the same relentless genocide of the Tibetan people in that nation that they occupy, regardless of their stupid and shallow claims that "Tibet has always been a part of China."

Fortunately, there are at least 10,000 Tibetans in the USA to correct such perfidy and such genocidal lies. There are almost no Burmese who have been allowed to immigrate to the USA, certainly not nearly enough to offset the general's lying campaign. I hope you will take the time to forward what you read on Ashin's site as widely as possible, and that you will also use your own influence as citizens of the USA, if you are one, to facilitate some Immigration programs to bring Burmese to the USA, starting with Ashing Mettacara! We need to remove these people from their abuse and poverty and repression as soon as possible.

It won't work without individuals like you taking the time and intelligence to improve the sorry plight of Myanmar, and remember the prior example set by the Tibetans in increasing their USA numbers; most of them were personally selected by the Dalai Lama's government in exile, as the kind of people who would become model citizens. Most of them are. I know several who have survived Chinese prisons in Tibet, like Drapchi in Lhasa. One man is about 45 and looks 75, resulting from the brutality of his treatment.

If you are not a US citizen, then use your influence to bring about increased immigration of Burmese into your nation. If not, the truth will never be told, andl these people will continue to suffer ghastly injustices. Please take it upon your self to get Ashin's stories out to a much wider American and European readership.

Respectfully,

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News
Founder, New Millennium Fine Art, a Santa Fe Gallery since 1980

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Myanmar: 9 "Free Suu Kyi" protesters arrested in Burma

By Ashin Mettacara

Nine members of the NLD party were arrested by Burmese police on Tuesday, a witness said.

According to the source, eight men and one woman were arrested rouded up and shoved into trucks by plainclothes police officers approximately 3 p.m. as they marched in front of the old parliament building, holding a banner with the words "Free Aung San Suu Kyi" written on it.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Nobel laureates demand Aung San Suu Kyi release

PARIS (AFP) — Nobel peace laureates urged Europe and the United Nations on Friday to push harder to bring about national reconciliation in Myanmar and the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We are here today to remind the world of her courage and of the strength of this woman who has been unceasingly fighting for the freedom of her people," said a text read by Northern Ireland peace campaigner Mairead Corrigan Maguire.

Suu Kyi, 63, who won the Nobel prize in 1991, has been detained for most of the past two decades, mostly isolated from the outside world, only receiving visits from her doctor and lawyer.

Maguire was meeting in Paris with fellow Nobel peace prize winners Betty Williams and John Hume of Northern Ireland, F.W. de Klerk of South Africa and Lech Walesa of Poland.

Together, they called on European leaders and institutions and the United Nations to "do their utmost to achieve the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners."

They also urged world leaders to "force the Burma regime to start a peaceful reconciliation process in order to restore democracy and respect for fundamental human rights in this country."

In their declaration, the laureates voiced concern that the drive for reconciliation launched in Myanmar by the United Nations after the political unrest of September 2007, was at a standstill.

"We feel at risk of losing a precious opportunity for peace in Burma," they said.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, whose foundation co-organised the Paris event but who was unable to attend for medical reasons, sent a message voicing his support for a global campaign in favour of Suu Kyi's release.

Irish rocker-turned-activist Bono, speaking after receiving an annual peace award from the laureates for his global crusade to tackle poverty and disease, paid tribute to Suu Kyi in her absence.

"We should acknowledge the Nobel laureate who should be here, but is not here. That is Aung San Suu Kyi," said the U2 frontman, whose 2001 single "Walk On" was dedicated to the Myanmar democracy icon.

"We have to tell her and send out a message of love. She is still not able to move freely, and we look forward to the day when she will be."

Last week, more than 100 former leaders wrote to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, urging him to travel to Myanmar to secure the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

But the UN secretary general has ruled out such a visit and expressed frustration at the military regime's failure to take steps toward dialogue with the opposition.

Ban visited Myanmar in May after its military rulers came under international fire for not allowing foreign aid in after a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing.

The Nobel winners were meeting in Paris for a three-day annual summit, coinciding with celebrations marking 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in the French capital.

Burma: Bush met the writter and bloggers

By Ashin Mettacara

US President George Bush marked Human Rights Day on Wednesday by meeting with a writer from Sudan and six bloggers from Belarus, China, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, and Myanmar(Burma).

Bush first met the writer of " Tears of the Desert" Dr. Halima Bashir in the Oval Office, and he also met in the Roosevelt Room with international bloggers from six countries. Bush 's meeting at the White House with international bloggers intended to discuss blogging , and to push for democratic change by using the internet.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Burma: Myanmar Monk Congratulates Cuba Blogger Yoani Sánchez

By Ashin Mettacara

I have two news with sadness and happiness: Burma's judical crackdown news and International Awards news. I congratulated yesterday Burma's Comedian Zarganar on his award. Also, I have to say congratulation to Yoani Sánchez today. Because she was honored Jury Prize for Best Blog(Best Blog of 2008) by the jury for the Deutsche Welle International Weblog Awards( known as The BOBs). My blog was also nominated, not reached to finalist. But I voted Yoani Sánchez and Zeng Jinyan. Now they are the winners . I am very happy for them.

Yoani Sánchez is a well-known Cuba blogger. She is able to publish the blog despite censorship in Cuba by e-mailing entries to friends outside the country, who then put them online. Sánchez was awarded the Premio Ortega y Gasset de Periodismo (Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award) in Spain but was not allowed to travel to Madrid to receive the prize in person. In 2008, Time magazine considered Sánchez as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In her recent email to me, " Hello, Metta:
Thank you very much for your feelings to my work, and also for voting
for it. It is an honor for me that a Buddhist monk could identify my
fight with his fight.
My access to internet is extremely complicated, but I will try to visit
your blog.
Greetings from Cuba.
Yoani"

The BOBs' jury said that Sanchez gives voice to an entire generation of Cubans and provides the world with a window into Cuba through her clear and poetic writing.
In addition to a slew of other obstacles in her way, Sanchez can't even post her own entries to the blog. Instead she is forced to e-mail them to friends outside of Cuba in order for her words to go online. Despite the challenges she has to overcome, she's managed to keep in contact with her readers and create a huge international community around her work.

Zeng Jinyan, the wife of an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia was also given Reporters Without Borders award.

The BOBs – Best of the Blogs - is the world’s largest international Weblog competition. Founded and sponsored by Deutsche Welle, the German International Broadcasting Service, the BOBs are now in their fourth year. The competition kicks off each year in the beginning of September and ends with a public award ceremony each November in Berlin.

Through the BOBs, Deutsche Welle focuses attention on the promotion of freedom of information and the press around the world. In cooperation with Reporters Without Borders, Deutsche Welle has presented a special award to Bloggers promoting these specific ideals since 2005.

Congratulation to Yoani Sánchez !

Friday, November 28, 2008

Burma, Myanmar: Congratulation to Comedian Zaganar

By Ashin Mettacara

Popular Burmese comedian, film actor, and film director, Zarganar, was sentenced 59 years imprisonment on November 27th. On the same day he was honoured arts awards for human rights (activities?).
The Guardian newspaper mentioned the judges awarded the ArtVenture Freedom to Create Imprisoned Artist prize, worth $25,000 (£16,150), to Burmese satirist Zarganar, who played a prominent part in the country's pro-democracy movement. Last Friday, a court sentenced him to 45 years imprisonment for "disaffection towards state and government''. Zarganar was arrested in June after giving interviews to foreign media in which he criticised the regime's slow response to Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,000 people.

The 47-year-old comedian is a successful producer, director, writer and actor. He frequently upsets officials with his popular satirical jokes about his country's political, economic and social situation. The junta banned him from making public performances in 2006 after he made remarks to foreign media which upset them.

This award is one of several prizes established by philanthropic organisation ArtVenture to recognise "the forgotten front line of artists" across the world.

Recently Comedian Zaganar was also awarded a human rights prize by Canadian PEN.

Myanmar: Burma Jail News Continues; 6 Women Get 6 Years

By Ashin Mettacara

The only continuity in Burma is the news about everyday jailing of monks and activists. Many detained monks and activists are also awaiting trial. The judical crackdown continues today. Six women were sentenced to 6 years imprisoment each for helping Nargis cyclone victims and for involvement in last year’s Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks.
More than 100 political prisoners have been sentenced this week. Among them, a prominent leader and spokesmonk of the Saffron Revolution, Ashin Gambira, was given the longest sentence of 68 years. The second longest sentence passed was to 23 members and leaders of 88 Generation Students, and the third, was to popular Burmese comedian, film actor, and film director, Zarganar. His case was closed yesterday with a total of 59 years.
The names of the six women who were sentenced today are: Nobel Aye, Aye Thida, Lay Lay Mon, Noe Noe, Theraphi Theint Theint Tun and Daw San San Tin. Nobel Aye, is a 28-year-old freelance writer and journalist.

Two others sentenced were male journalists, U Thet Zin and Sein Win Maung, who were sentenced to 7 years each. More than 20 journalists including bloggers have been sentenced within the past three weeks.

Many detained monks and activists are awaiting trial. It is abhorrent that Burmese people are being jailed for helping people in need.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Burma, Myanmar: Unfinished Jail News; Popular Burmese Comedian Gets Total 59 Years

By Ashin Mettacara

A popular Burmese comedian, film actor, and a film director Zarganar was sentenced today to another 14 years imprisonment. He has already been sentenced to 45 years imprisonment on November 21st. His case is now closed with total of 59 years imprisoment for helping Nargis cyclone victims and speaking to foreign media about the situation of millions of people left homeless in Cyclone devastated Irrawaddy delta.

An editor in chief of the sports magazine First Eleven Ko Zaw Thet Htwe and journalist Ko Thant Zin Aung who were sentenced to 15 years each on November 21st, received today further years. Ko Zaw Thet Htwe was given 4 years and Ko Thant Zin Aung was given 3 years. They all had been jailed for helping people in need in Cyclone devastated Irrawaddy delta.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Burma, Myanmar: Leader Monk Gets Total 68 Years; Popular Burmese Comedian Gets 45 Years

By Ashin Mettacara


A prominent leader and spokesmonk for the Saffron Revolution Ashin Gambira was sentenced to total of 68 years imprisonment. He has already been sentenced to 12 years on November 12th, 44 years on November 20th and 12 years on November 21st. His case is now closed with total of 68 years imprisoment for his involvement in last year Saffron Revolution.
Ashin Gambira is the pseudonym of one of the leaders of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance (ABMA). He was arrested in Mandalay Division's Sintgaing Township on November 4th, 2007. His tireless hard work is a wonder. As a consequence, he was able to unify the clergy nationwide leading to the successful launching of 2007 Saffron Revolution.

A popular Burmese comedian Zarganar was also sentenced today to 45 years for speaking to foreign media about the situation of millions of people left homeless in Cyclone devastated Irrawaddy delta. But his case is not closed yet. It is still proceeding. He may get another more years. He was arrested on June 4th.
Zarganar is a popular Burmese comedian, film actor, and a film director as well as a fierce critic and frequent political prisoner of the Burmese military government. Known for his wicked puns against the government, Zarganar, whose name translates to "tweezers", is widely considered to be the most popular comedian and satirist in Burma.

Nine other monks were also sentenced today. Ashin Kelasa from Mandalay has alredy been sentenced to 35 years , he gets today another 4 years. His case is now closed with total of 39 years. The chief monk of Maggin Monastery U Indaka was sentenced to 20 1/2 years. U Indariya was given 14 years and U Sumana was given 6 years. Five other monks from Sasana Theik Pan Monastery: U Ukkamsamala and U Janeyya were sentenced to 5 1/2 years each, and U Pannasiha, U Narapati and U Pannadipa were 2 1/2 years imprisonment each.

14 activist were also sentenced to up to 29 years. Ko Tin Maung Aye was sentenced to 29 years, Ko Zaw Thet Htwe and Ko Thant Zin Aung were sentenced to 15 years each. But they are still proceeding, not closed yet.
Ko Aung Kyaw Kyaw( Brother of Ashin Gambira) and Ko Kyaw Naing were sentenced to 14 years each. Ko Swe Maung (Mandalay), U Zaw Win( Mandalay) and Ko Wanna Aung were sentenced to 4 years each, they have been sentenced to 4 years each on November 14th. Their case is now closed with total of 8 years each imprisoment. Ko Khin Tun was sentenced to 4 1/2 years, Ko Tun Tun Naing, Ko Than Htay , Ko Nge Soe and Ko Kyaw San were sentenced to 4 years each. Ko Khin Tun was sentenced to 4 1/2 years. Ko Soe Swe's sentence is not yet known.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Burma, Myanmar: Popular Burmese Hip-Hop Singer Gets 6 Years; Leader Monk Gets Another 15 years

By Ashin Mettacara

More than 20 activists were sentenced in Burma on Thursday. A popular Burmese Hip-Hop singer Zay Yar Thaw was also included in the list of the detainenes sentenced.
Zay Yar Thaw is a 27-year-old singer from the popular music band known as ACID. ACID a hip-hop band from Yangon , Burma. The band was formed in 2001 with the young singers: Yan Yan Chan, Anagga, Zay Yar Thaw and Hein Zaw. They won the young Burmese music-lovers.
Zaw Yar Thaw organised and led the Generation Wave group with the young activists during the Saffron Revolution led by the Buddhist monks in 2007. He was arrested in March with his four other members of Generation Wave. He was sentenced today to 6 years imprisonment for possessing foreign currency and organising illegal group. His four other members of Generation Wave were sentenced to 5 years imprisoment each.
14 memmbers of NLD were given 2 1/2 years.
The leader and spokesmonk for the Saffron Revolution Ashin Gambira gets another 15 years. Last Tuesday he has already been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. But his case is not closed yet.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Burma, Myanmar: Jail News: Three Jailed Today

By Sherwood Roos

The only continuity in Burma is the news about everyday jailing of monks and activists. Today three activists were jailed. One of them is Ko Kyaw Zwar aka Kyaw Htay Lwin, he got double sentence of 5 years and 6 1/2 years. Di Nyein Lin was sentenced to 6 1/2 years imprisonment. His father U Zaw Zaw Min, a member of 88 Generation Students, was also sentenced to 65 years on November 11.
Ko Kyaw San was given 4 years imprisonment. Burma Jail News is not closed yet.

Question: How many activists in Burma will be jailed in this month?

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Myanmar: Burma Crackdown on Prominent Monks and Activists Continues; More Get Long Term Jail

By Stephen Fox

A prominent monk *Ashin Gambira* was condemned to 12 years prison. But his case is not closed yet. He will probably get more than 50 years because there are so many charges against him.
Ashin Gambira is a spokesmonk for the Saffron Revolution and he spoke well of the protest leaders.
A Buddhist monk *Ashin Kelasa* from Mandalay was also sentenced to 35 years for his involvement in protests.
Two activists Tin Htoo Aung , Kam Lat Hkoat were sentenced to 33 years each, and another activist Kat Hkant Kwal was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. They all have been convicted of involvement in last year protests led by the Buddhist monks.