Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese (Myanmar) activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was arrested after her home was invaded by Vietnam War veteran and Mormon evangelist. John William Yettaw swam to her compound May 3 and was arrested two days later on his way back. Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 20 years under house arrest, and she was supposed to finally be freed May 27. She will go on trial for the illegal visitor on Monday; if convicted, she could face up to five years in prison.
posted by dejah420 on May 14, 2009 - 50 comments

Explosive art; "weapons" paintings by San Minn are not shown in his native Burma where Rappers, journalists and comedians have discovered a new crime – helping people devastated by cyclone Nargis. [more inside]
posted by adamvasco on Mar 19, 2009 - 5 comments

Can the Burmese people rescue themselves? A powerful piece by George Packer in the New Yorker on the recent history and current conditions in Burma.
posted by homunculus on Aug 20, 2008 - 32 comments

Monks Succeed in Cyclone Relief as Junta Falters. In Burma (Myanmar) the Buddhist monks are doing more than anyone to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis. At the same time, Burmese officials are trying to stem the influence of the monks by forcing survivors who have sought refuge in monasteries to return to their shattered homes. [Via Barbara's Buddhism Blog.]
posted by homunculus on Jun 1, 2008 - 26 comments

A week in Burma after the storm is the second of two anonymous eyewitness reports at danwei.org of the impact and aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. It is the most gripping and tremendously sad report I have read yet on the human tragedy that is Nargis and the Myanmar Junta's non-response. [more inside]
posted by gen on May 14, 2008 - 24 comments

On Flooded Burmese Coast, the Smell of Rot and Death The situation in Burma (Myanmar) is deteriorating rapidly. Six days after Cyclone Nargis ripped through Burma, leaving untold devestation in its wake and flooding vast stretches of delta, it is estimated the death toll may climb to 100,000. Now, a Second catastrophe looms in Burma as the regime blocks aid shipments. Time is of the essence. The U.N. has launched an appeal to the Burmese government, who have thus far been slow to act. The news is truly grim: 'I stopped counting bodies on journey down river of death'.
posted by ornate insect on May 9, 2008 - 119 comments

Burma: It Can't Wait is a month-long video campaign by the US Campaign for Burma to raise awareness of the plight of Burma (Myanmar) and Aung San Suu Kyi. There will be one video a day for 30 days from celebrities including Will Ferrel, Sarah Silverman and Eddie Izzard. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on May 5, 2008 - 57 comments

Crackdown: Repression of the 2007 Popular Protests in Burma.
posted by homunculus on Dec 9, 2007 - 32 comments

Small 'Panty' Demonstration Held in Rangoon. It seems the Panties for Peace movement (discussed previously) is gaining momentum. And now you too can throw panties at junta leader General Than Shwe at Ready Aim Vote. [Via Lanna Action for Burma.]
posted by homunculus on Nov 8, 2007 - 11 comments

Monks march again in Burma. Approximately one hundred Buddhist monks marched in protest oif government policies in the central city of Pakokku yesterday. One monk who spoke to journalists claims more marches will be organized. Will we see a resurgence of the mass marches--and crackdowns--of August and September?
posted by schroedinger on Oct 31, 2007 - 18 comments

Sold to Be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma. [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Oct 30, 2007 - 6 comments

Panties for Peace "This is a way for women around the world to express their outrage."
posted by Kirth Gerson on Oct 20, 2007 - 12 comments

Risking all: the Burmese jokers who laugh in the face of danger. In Burma (Myanmar), comedians are targets in the junta's war on words. [Via BB.] [more inside]
posted by homunculus on Oct 17, 2007 - 23 comments

B U R M A [Via Crikey] and "M" link quite disturbing [more inside]
posted by mattoxic on Oct 1, 2007 - 48 comments

...On account of the unavoidable circumstances, the members of the security forces fired some shots employing the least force to disperse the mob.... Meet the New Light of Myanmar, official mouthpiece of the catchily-named SLORC
posted by mattoxic on Sep 27, 2007 - 29 comments

Some amazing photos of the ongoing anti-government protests by Buddhist monks in Burma. Things are getting tense.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese on Sep 24, 2007 - 62 comments

The fight to free Burma has been making noise lately. Protests are picking up in Burma, international activists are putting pressure on the UN to step in, and Jim Carrey has joined as yet another celebrity to try to bring public attention to the effort. Burma is an amazing place and the Burmese people are some of the warmest, most hospitable, beautiful, and silliest people I have ever encountered. The people of Burma deserve a better world. Is the tide shifting? Will this be a turning point for Burma? I hope so.
posted by crawfishpopsicle on Aug 29, 2007 - 29 comments

Burmese artist Htein Lin was imprisoned by his country's military government from 1998 to 2004 on charges of planning opposition protests. In prison he was forced to improvise to continue painting, using paints smuggled in by guards and white cotton prison uniforms as canvases. In place of brushes he used his fingers, cigarette lighters, syringes, pieces of netting, dinner plates, and blocks of soap. Burma Inside Out (PDF), an exhibition of some of his prison work, will be on display at the Asia House Gallery in London from July 27 to October 13.
posted by homunculus on Jul 26, 2007 - 10 comments

From Hunter to Hunted "In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought he’d seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar."
posted by homunculus on Jul 1, 2007 - 25 comments

On the heal of her husbands fairly recent op-ed in WSJ, Laura Bush writes her own op-ed (subscription possibly required) about the whole Burma situation (or Myanmar) of all topics. Why did she do it? The Huffington Post speculates.
posted by jourman2 on Jun 20, 2007 - 23 comments

The stupa (aka the chorten or the pagoda) is Buddhism's universal piece of symbolic architecture. Borobodur in Java is probably the most famous, while Burma's Shwedagon Pagoda is the largest, and the Kyaik-htiyo Pagoda on the Golden Rock may be the most precarious. They're common across the Himalayas, and sometimes hidden in caves.
posted by homunculus on Apr 26, 2007 - 19 comments

Burmese Daze: In which the author submits to the pleasures of a transgender spirit possession festival in Burma. [Via Disinformation.]
posted by homunculus on Apr 25, 2007 - 11 comments

The Problem of the Rupee. Starting off as a silver-based unit of currency by the 15th century ruler, Sher Shah Suri, the Rupee (wiki) has had a long and chequered history encompassing most of Asian and East-African colonial history. Issued by the British, the French, the Dutch, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Germans and even the Danish, the rupee as a brand-name existed far beyond India, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka Seychelles or the Mauritius. _{(more inside)}
posted by the cydonian on Mar 27, 2007 - 15 comments

3000 feet up in the mountains of Eastern Myanmar (Burma) lies Inle Lake^, a giant freshwater lake that is populated by 70,000 people living in four separate cities on top of the lake. They dwell, fish, farm, worship and celebrate upon the surface of Lake Inle, living a unique lifestyle that seems wholly unto itself, untouched by the world outside. All pictures found using the amazing FlickrStorm tool.
posted by jonson on Aug 13, 2006 - 25 comments

Burma's military overseers, possibly in fear of a US invasion or internal strife, are moving the country's capital. At 6:37 a.m. on November 6th, (a time selected by one of the country’s leading astrologists), Myanmar's government began relocating its ministries to a 100 square-km complex in Pyinmana, a remote forest-bound location about 390 km north of Rangoon. Some analysts said the move is being driven by fears of a US invasion, while many in Myanmar believe it is due to worries about a possible internal uprising. (This despite a commitment to a "discipline-flourishing democracy".) The country's neighbors were put-off because they hadn't been informed of the move. Fortunately, the government is sure the relocation won't affect the country's tourism industry.
posted by soiled cowboy on Dec 9, 2005 - 30 comments

60s/70s psych, crossover, beat, and a go-go from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam with band/music scene histories, streaming audio, cover art, etc. Part of a large site devoted to 60s/70s progressive music around the world.
posted by carter on Dec 8, 2005 - 15 comments

The country formerly known as Burma officially denies reports of a coup. Rumors circulated last week that Senior General Than Shwe had been deposed by his military regime's number-two, General Maung Aye. Burma-watchers discounted the reports, with some suggesting that the junta concocted the story as a trick. The country's "ossified leaders" blamed the BBC for the rumors, while astrologers in Rangoon believe that Than Shwe's wife spread the story. The general's wife, it seems, is worried about Mars.
posted by soiled cowboy on Aug 29, 2005 - 63 comments

Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest has been extended. The leader of Burma's democracy movement and a Nobel laureate, Suu Kyi was arrested a year and a half ago after her motorcade was attacked. Many prisoners in Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar) were recently released, but this is widely seen as a political ploy. [More inside]
posted by homunculus on Nov 30, 2004 - 7 comments

Bando is the brutal fighting style of Burma. Trouble is, its Grandmaster may be a fantasist and a fraud.
posted by the cuban on Sep 1, 2004 - 4 comments

Canto do Brasil [Flash, sound, MiguelCardosoFilter] is a street-level view of Brazil made by photographer Geoffrey Hiller, more precisely a view of Salvador Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo.

Another amazing project of his is Burma, Grace Under Pressure [Flash, sound], exposing Burma's beauty and sadness.

Also check Eastern Europe: Visions & Icons [Flash] ,where Hiller's post-Berlin Wall photographs are accompanied by Lev Liberman's moving text, New York City: After The Fall [Flash, sound], an elegy to New Yorkers affected by 9/11, and his journal from Vietnam.
posted by Masi on Sep 1, 2004 - 3 comments

Asia Grace
posted by euphorb on Jul 21, 2004 - 6 comments

Southeast Asian Monuments: A Selection of 100 Slides. ''100 slides of monuments in Mainland Southeast Asia ( Burma, Thailand,Cambodia, Vietnam, selected from the collection of Marijke J. Klokke, are presented here ... '
posted by plep on Feb 7, 2004 - 2 comments

The great firewall of Burma. "Burma's military regime has reluctantly dipped a toe in the cyber sea, but for most of the country's population owning a modem without permission means 15 years in jail." I guess I should stop complaining about my dial-up connection.
posted by homunculus on Aug 3, 2003 - 5 comments

Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected and rightful leader of Burma (Myanmar,) and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was arrested by Burma's military government 9 days ago after a premeditated attack on her motorcade. The U.N. representative visiting Burma has not been allowed to see her. There has been a crackdown on the democracy movement, and Suu Kyi's arrest may signal a split within the military government. [More inside.]
posted by homunculus on Jun 9, 2003 - 31 comments

Burmese villagers sue Unocal in an L.A. courtroom. The villagers are charging that Unocal is responsible for human-rights abuses committed by the Burmese military along the company's $1.2 billion Yadana gas pipeline. Here's a Unocal website responding to the suit. And the Free Burma Coalition's Unocal Page.
posted by Ty Webb on Oct 21, 2002 - 11 comments

My Gun was as Tall as Me is a new report by Human Rights Watch about children forced to become soldiers in Burma (Myanmar). They estimate as many as 70,000 soldiers are under 18, some as young as 11. (Previous posts about Burma and modern slavery.)
posted by homunculus on Oct 16, 2002 - 4 comments

"Why isn't Burma on Bush's 'Axis of Evil' list?" A fair question considering the threat to its neighbors from its drugs and weapons trades, its nuclear ambitions, and its continuing horrible treatment of its own people. And though Aung San Suu Kyi was released shortly after Kurlantzick's article was written, the junta still has not held substantive talks with her, but they have continued with their plans to build a nuclear reactor (perhaps they're looking for a promotion from the measly 'Axis of Occasionally Evil'.)
posted by homunculus on Sep 23, 2002 - 33 comments

Aung San Suu Kyi released. "My release should not be looked at as a major breakthrough for democracy. For all people in Burma to enjoy basic freedom - that would be the major breakthrough," she said. I know, but it's a start.
posted by feelinglistless on May 6, 2002 - 3 comments

Is Aung San Suu Kyi going to be released? Speculation's mounting that the military government of Myanmar is going to end opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 18-month house arrest, after a U.N. envoy's trip to the country. Think that'll help, or even happen? (Suu Kyi's a bit of a cause celebre at the moment -- Bono's had her face on a t-shirt and he wrote "Walk On" about her, so you know something's going on...)
posted by logovisual on May 1, 2002 - 6 comments

Burma: Grace Under Pressure Zeldman logged this a couple days ago, but I just got to it today. Geofrrey Hiller's documentary site based on his travel in Burma. I can't say enough good things about it. A moving presentation on a beleaguered country, beautifully photgraphed and sequenced. The world is forgetting what was done to Burma. This should be a reminder.

It's slow, in part deliberately; it uses Flash (well), and it's got big images and sound…but it's worth it.
posted by rodii on Feb 9, 2001 - 3 comments

Bulletproof teenage twins surrender! Johnny and Luther Htoo, leaders of a Myanmar rebel militia called God's Army, have surrendered to Thai authorities (who apparently coaxed the boys out of the jungle with crackers). Are today's teens leading rebel armies too soon?
More inside.
posted by varmint on Jan 17, 2001 - 6 comments

Welcome to Burma.com How's *this* for net access?! And we sometimes complain about how the government views the net in our own countries... fact is we don't know how good we've got it.
posted by tomcosgrave on Feb 16, 2000 - 3 comments