Burma
Break the Burmese blackout
AVAAZ.org (“Voice”) is taking donations for civil society groups in Burma. The regime has completely choked off the flow of information. George Packer has a profound post from the other day about the international response: Besides coercive diplomacy—which means hard talk and possibly sanctions—the survival and success of democratic movements under stubborn dictatorships require long-term external support, in some cases
Burma: crisis not over
The nightmare in Burma has passed from the headlines but it is not over. Now that they’ve had time to study footage of the recent pro-democracy protests, the government thugs are worsening their terror, rounding up those who took part. They take anyone they can identify from their videos. People who clapped, who offered water to the monks, who knelt
Deceit and denial
It’s been interesting to watch both the Bush administration and the Burmese regime twist and flail after the revelation of grievous misdeeds. Burmese diplomats, borrowing a page from Robert Mugabe, are making noise about “neocolonialism” and insisting that everyone in the world but them is guilty of “confrontation.” But again, we have footage of their goons murdering a Japanese journalist
Burma again
I am sorry about the image on the left, of a Buddhist monk, I believe showing signs of torture, floating dead in a river. But these are desperate circumstances. The Burmese junta is going to great lengths to prevent this information from getting to us. Kenji Nagai, the Japanese journalist killed last week, was not caught in any crossfire. He
Burma continued
As you’ve read, I am just back from a jazz journalism symposium that featured panelists representing some 16 countries. I’ll be offering reactions in the next issue of Jazz Notes and perhaps elsewhere. On a sunny day at Columbia University, while we talked about this business of airing ideas and sharing opinions, Burmese monks and civilian protesters were still being
No Justice, No Olympics
The Burmese junta, once again, has begun shooting and arresting peaceful demonstrators. Sullivan has a remarkable roundup here. The Burmese people are being shot at with Chinese weaponry, and China continues to block condemnations at the UN Security Council. Although a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said this: China hopes that all parties in Myanmar [sic] exercise restraint and properly handle the
“Do-aye” — “It is our task”
There is a spectacular uprising underway in Burma (I refuse to call it Myanmar). Here’s to the courageous monks and the long-suffering Burmese democrats. May they meet with every success against the “golf-playing generals,” as Amitav Ghosh has called them.
Free Aung San Suu Kyi
With Sean Penn and other celebs supporting a budding autocracy in Venezuela, it’s nice to see Jim Carrey making a dead-serious appeal for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi. [P.S. – Demonstrations have been flaring up in Rangoon in recent days. Take a moment to appreciate the incredible bravery of the Burmese opposition, whose members are being rounded up