RANGOON -- Fresh off a bloody crackdown on more than 2,000 peaceful Buddhist monks, Myanmar's ruling junta announced today that it was targeting kittens and bunnies next.
"After last week's fun in Rangoon, I was quickly left bored and listless. I found myself wanting some other group to crush ruthlessly, and I wondered, 'What could be even more defenseless and wholesome than a Buddhist monk?' And I thought, "Kittens!" said Senior General Than Shwe, head of Myanmar's government. "So I decided to kill me some kittens. And after that it'll be bunnies."
Myanmar's army won't even have to use its own weapons for the kitten kill. China is contributing submachine guns and ammunition, while Thailand has sent thousands of hungry dogs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if Myanmar ran out of its own kittens, he would gladly supply Russian ones.
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution condemning the act, but saying that it has no jurisdiction over hostile acts against felines and rodents. And even if it did, the council declared, it wouldn't have the authority to act. And even if it had the authority, it would just sit by and watch because at this point that's all it knows how to do.
Access: Public
culture
July 2008 
Excellent.
Someone needs to take out that bastard. Hope it happens soon.
Shawn
Thanks Shawn. Yeah, something's gotta give.
Albert
Great post:):) Panty fear is a syndrom many politically and spiritually correct people share too.
A nice piece of research:):)
Thanks Albert. The situation in Myanmar is insane; such tragedy mixed with the absurd. And I agree completely on the syndrome too - we humans are such weird geniuses.
If we can't laugh we are lost. But we CAN laugh and cry at the same time. And we can also simultaneously be in an even higher perspective, compassion. For ALL.
Here's something to contemplate though, based on my meager understanding of history: Monks are NOT harmless kittens and bunnies. Monks carry and maintain and spread crucial aspects of a culture. If you want to warp a culture to suit your needs to stay in power, you must eliminate the intellectual and religious leaders as holders of older views, values, languages, rituals, customs, etc. Monks have lots of influence. They are central. Thus, to the new leaders, they represent a great threat and danger.
So the next target would be teachers, especially secondary level and above. [But the early years are the most important. Teachers of the young would not be immune.] I don't follow the news. Perhaps that has already begun.
I have no idea of actually why this military are killing these monks. I speak only from theory, from history. [I haven't checked out the links at the beginning of your blog entry.]
The lady looks to me scared shitless despite her smile, but also with extraordinary determination. I don't follow news so I have no idea who she is. I just have learned a bit of “face reading.”
Blessings, OM Bastet
OM,
Kyi should look scared shitless, given her and Myanmar's plight, so your 'face reading' is spot on.
And I agree on the power monks have, and that some leaders fear that power.
Albert
Absolutely wonderful blog. Made me laugh out loud, the panty thing.
Have you read Ron's piece on Than Shwe? Maybe we should mention the panty thing.
Suu Kyi is on my list of 'heroes'. (Beautiful pic of her here on wiki, 1Vector3.)
Love all,
Sandra
Thank you Sandra. You're very generous.
I just read Ron's piece. I can't imagine how I've managed to miss DIVING DEEPER but now that I've joined you'll be hearing from me over there too. And please mention whatever you wish.
Albert
Thanks Sandra. There are disadvantages to living outside the culture as much as I do, but what I need to know comes to me when I need to know it. So now I know who she is, and definitely agree a hero. And just to clarify lest anyone should mistake my meaning, the fear IMHO is not an emotion but an ongoing character aspect, andn I mean no disrespect to her at all by mentioning it. She has, as was pointed out, plenty to be afraid of in this lifetime!!!!! It is theoretically possible to be in utter peace, in her life, but no judgment about her being there or not. She is definitely Daw (wiki doesn't mention it, but I think Dame as in the English honorific is closer than Madam) and she is very admirable.
She is 6 years younger than me, and her birthday is 3 days later. Interesting.
Blessings, OM Bastet
Wonderful to have you at Diving Deeper. Albert!
OM Bastet, I feel ashamed that I was a little 'iffy' you did not know who Suu Kyi is as I am so lacking in 'common knowledge' it's sometimes funny ( I stopped going to school at age 12, and studied ancient greek at university, & rebelled against my mother/brothers overt political stance and activism, don't watch television, and apart from brief forays into the various horrors going on in the world, I read the Arts pages in newspapers. Perhaps the horrors are why I read the Arts pages).
The only reason I have some connection to Burma is because I traveled there in my 20's and found it to be a blessing of a place and people, inspite of the awful government.
I totally agree, in the photograph above she doesn't look happy, and indeed given her circumstances it is not surprising.
Love,
Sandra
`I am still trying to get this blog entry into Hottest by multiplying comments. Haven't checked that list lately. LOL.
No need for ashamed, Sandra. I was not being sarcastic. I did not know who she was. I never heard of this lady til this blog post and really appreciated your wiki reference. I indeed live WAY outside the culture, as do you and many of us here. Self-protection. Vision-protection. :)
Blessings, OM Bastet
OM Bastet - That you 'live outside the culture' is a gift to us all. Many Zaadsters live on an edge of it, but to be truly outside lends itself to a perspective that can't otherwise be obtained. I celebrate your ability to live 'outside.' A treasure indeed. But I am glad that Suu Kyi is now in your constellation of heroes.
And I think that being placed on the 'hot' list is the result of executing an algorithm that looks at the number of comments divided by time since the original posting. I've had hot-list posts with only six comments, but six that came within an hour or two of the original posting. I assume these things anyway, and hope it's not otherwise. Or else…hmmm…
Sandra - my experience is that people who've stopped going to school early are often better and more original thinkers, having not been molded into any one vessel of inquiry. Hooray for you!
Everyone - my original thought with this post, other than that of the humor possible in even the deepest of human tragedies, was to make a tangential comment on the enormous imbalance between yin and yang principles reflected in the government of modern nation-states. It's not that I think any one gender necessarily has an intrinsic advantage in this, but that an appropriately informed world-view must incorporate both principles, a thing Albert (Oh my God - there are two of us!) has alluded to in his comment above. I do not know if Suu Kyi represents a panacea for what ails Myanmar, but she really must be better than who's holding the reins now. Also, her ascension to leadership in Myanmar would at least dent the armor of the global yang-centric. Or so I hope.
Much love to you all,
Albert
(Bold and italics not working for me here.)
You said: Sandra - my experience is that people who've stopped going to school early are often better and more original thinkers, having not been molded into any one vessel of inquiry. Hooray for you!
I add: Excellent point!!! Very true in my experience, too. When I hear a person is self-educated I perk up my ears and get ready to be favorably inclined!!!!!
You said: Everyone - my original thought with this post, other than that of the humor possible in even the deepest of human tragedies, was to make a tangential comment on the enormous imbalance between yin and yang principles reflected in the government of modern nation-states. It's not that I think any one gender necessarily has an intrinsic advantage in this, but that an appropriately informed world-view must incorporate both principles, a thing Albert (Oh my God - there are two of us!) has alluded to in his comment above. I do not know if Suu Kyi represents a panacea for what ails Myanmar, but she really must be better than who's holding the reins now. Also, her ascension to leadership in Myanmar would at least dent the armor of the global yang-centric. Or so I hope.
I add: Amen to humor and to balance and thanks to you for your attention to both!!!!! And true for me too that neither gender is intrinsically better. There are or have been vicious women leaders, too.
Thanks for clarifying the algorithm on Hottest Blog Entries. That makes more sense.
Blessings, OM Bastet
And I think that being placed on the 'hot' list is the result of executing an algorithm that looks at the number of comments divided by time since the original posting. I've had hot-list posts with only six comments, but six that came within an hour or two of the original posting. I assume these things anyway, and hope it's not otherwise. Or else…hmmm…
I've tried to figure it out too and your answer seems the best one… and yet I've seen hot list items that had very few comments. interesting. perhaps 'views' are also counted.
Anyway I'm hoping this unrelated to your blog comment might add to its heat :-)
And it's a hot time in Blogtown tonight Sandra. Thanks!