“20,000 dead, over 40,000 missing and 1 million displaced.” – FBR Relief Team Leader During forty years of totalitarian rule, the SPDC, the junta which rules Burma, has demonstrated time and again that they view the civilian population as adversaries. Burma maintains one of the largest standing armies in the world, although they have no […]
“If I go home, they will detain me,” says a Burmese exchange student. Terrified of state run information and spy networks, the student has asked not only that his name not be printed, but that even the country where he is studying remain secret. “I have heard from other students. They meet you at the […]
As they say, the shoe is now on the other foot. After years of enjoying the benefits of a strong US dollar, American travelers are now feeling the pinch as the greenback tumbles back down to earth. In the last 24 months, the US dollar has slid 10% against both the Canadian dollar and the […]
The young Shan monk told me that the first time he came to Thailand he came illegally, to study Pali, the ancient Buddhist script. That was when he was a novice of fourteen. Now, ten years later, he is still studying Theravada Buddhism at one of the temples in Northern Thailand. “I had problems with […]
On my return to Shanland I met with another leading Lai Tai, Kung Fu student and filmed his art. As always, I met up with Kawn Wan, interviewed him about his views on martial arts and on the future of the Shan people. youtube.com/watch?v=cLzpgjSpA5A I need some help. My paramedic training is going well in […]
American Thomas Bleming sees himself as the new Karen liberation fighter, but does anyone else? “Let me tell you about the army. The army is some guy you don’t know, sending you out to wack some other guy you don’t know.” Al Pacino, “Donnie Brasco” Mercenary, soldier of fortune, fast-gun for hire, even the job […]
“Inside Shan State we cannot teach Shan language. And, when youth talk about politics there is retaliation. Even talking about the meaning of democracy, even thinking about the meaning of democracy is dangerous.” Said twenty year old Kawn Wan. After his family was murdered and his village Burned, Kawn Wan completed his education and became […]
The endangered mountain gorillas of Central Africa already face poaching, agricultural encroachment, and deforestation. Now there’s another threat to add to the list: two potentially fatal viruses that could be passed from humans to gorillas and other primates (including chimpanzees and orangutans) as easily as the common cold. HRSV (human respiratory syncytial virus) and HMPV […]
In mid-March, just as the United States dropped China from its list of the world’s worst human rights abusers, police in Lhasa enacted a brutal crackdown against pro-Tibet demonstrators and monks. The protests, which started as a series of peaceful marches by Buddhist monks, called for Tibetan independence from decades of tyrannical Chinese rule. Once […]
