4 April 2021
My personal “quick update challenge.” Okay here goes:
- US locals want to approach the Thais etc. as well as want to talk to CNN
- CNN interview Q&A with the junta’s military historian (there’s a museum) posted their own footage on gov’t media of the last question of that interview. In short “would DASSK’s father Aung San be rolling in his grave” and the translated answer came back, truncating this:
- He originally wanted no more foreign interference so having no president who is or was married to a foreigner was his idea.
- He would say “what a stupid daughter.” She kinda lost it there.
- The R2P movement has put out a call for an easter egg challenge. Honey Mya Win shared this one:
From a BBC Burmese post:
Sometimes when global celebs and artists talk about Myanmar they have described it as if it is a black hole for creativity or like they themselves are bringing music to the people and their cause for the first time. They couldn’t be more wrong. Other news:
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A memo has leaked that former Tatmadaw who have defected say is authentic, an order to the police and military to be very restrained and do no violence when/where CNN is present.
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Too bad CNN can’t be everywhere in Myanmar at all times. Elsewhere in the country people who are dead or dying are being found on the road, but no one will go out there to help them including the aid workers and NGOs. The sniping is now a constant factor.
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CNN finally stepping up ever so slightly about what everyone else knows is happening in their wake… and yet, continuing their tour. This one’s a good read though.
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There’s word that the Tatmadaw is going to throw everything they can at the border armies especially in Shan State. We’ll see.
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I’m seeing what I perceive to be anti-Semitism in international support groups in response to, I believe my own explanations of how sophisticated the PR efforts are. So my own words are circling back to me through this other lens. I’m not gonna take part in that, might say my peace and either the people still pushing that are invited to leave or I will. Not exclusively non burmese, not exclusively burmese. It’s garbage. “The mossad was behind 9/11,” etc. I met the people propounding this stuff in the early 2000’s and they were, all of them, ranting anti-Semitism (“jews control the banks” etc) long before they latched on to the 9/11 crowd.
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I have on these pages perhaps wrongfully used the Burman description of the non-Burman (i.e., border) groups as “ethnic groups” when everyone on earth is some form of “ethnic.” It’s been lazy shorthand to describe “those not of the Burman majority.” Trying this:
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So-called “ethnic” leaders are organizing in their cities abroad, and in L.A. they held a zoom call in which Mayor Garcetti participated. This was a multi-ethnic organization. Southern California is home to the greatest number and diversity of Myanmar exiles, possibly outside of Yangon.
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Fascinating words from Total about their energy operations.
- They haven’t even been able to pay their $4M in monthly tax payment to the coup regime because there is no banking system to which they can deliver it.
- Some of it goes to Yangon for their electric grid.
- Total “was concerned staff there could be exposed to forced labour under the junta if it did decide to stop production in protest at violence in Myanmar.” That one’s a doozy - the junta are their business partner. This was the whole point of what we told them before they started going business, before they had even done surveys to build the pipeline. Your future partner enslaves people, always has and always will. Doesn’t this make the whole thing a textbook illustration of partnering with terrorists?
