Burma's silence must trouble all

An editorial in today's Bangkok Post News reveals how disturbing Burma's secretive leaders' behaviour really is. The bird flu is in Burma, but who knows the extent of it? And, by all accounts, opium and heroin are still the top crops, and production is increasing. Aung San Suu Kyi is still imprisoned in her house. The people still suffer.

But silence remains...

Burma's silence must trouble all
The traditional cliche holds that North Korea is the hermit kingdom, but Burma provides competition for the title. Information about our western neighbour has been as rare as hen's teeth. That is an apt comparison, given that Burma has even been secretive about as important, and as international an issue as avian flu.

Burma's taciturn or non-existent answers cover items as banal as what is the capital city, and as important as an apparent resurgence of opium and heroin trafficking in the country, if not by its military dictators.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar wasn't helping cut through the troubling secrecy when he announced he would finally make the trip to Burma that Asean leaders assigned to him last January. Mr Syed Hamid told one Malaysian newspaper he would be leaving for Burma "soon," meaning in the next nine days. But he would not give the dates, itinerary or expectations of his visit because he wanted to keep out of the glare of media.

Of course, a good politician like Mr Syed Hamid knows that journalists will now give his trip even more attention, which may be his goal. But there is also the chance he is buying into the dangerous and growing isolation of the military regime.

When last seen in public, in roughly the middle of last year, the Burmese junta was bowing to the inevitable, and agreeing to give up its place in the rotation as the 2007 Asean chair. Late last year, the generals ordered a midnight move from Rangoon to the new capital, in remote Pyinmana, as regime-inspired rumours spread that the Americans were going to attack. The country has held another of its sham constitutional conventions, with no progress towards democracy.

There has been no move to free democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, arrested and imprisoned at home without charge or immediate hope for personal freedom. Mr Syed Hamid would not say if he even hopes to meet the Nobel Peace Prize winner, even though his specific warrant from Asean is to assess the progress of democratic reform.

Last week, Burma announced two outbreaks of avian flu near Mandalay, among chickens and quail. A United Nations agricultural team from Bangkok flew to Burma, but health officials remain in the dark. The government mouthpieces which pass as media in Burma were totally silent on the outbreak for three days, which only increased the concern in the minds of consumers and in the poultry markets.

The disregard for their citizens is standard from the generals, but avian flu is a primary security concern around the world. It is no surprise the Burmese junta has no regard for its neighbours, but it remains troubling.

The same holds true for narcotic drugs, which have long been the main export of Burma. The latest UN survey estimated that about 100,000 hectares (around 625,000 rai) are under poppy cultivation. But even that is disputed.

Shan State Army commander Col Yod Suk says many fields have been moved to new areas, and foreigners kept out by the army. The opposition Democratic Voice of Burma radio claims opium now is grown by Naga tribesmen, close to India. Of course opponents have a reason to exaggerate _ but so does the junta. Their New Light of Myanmar newspaper says drug arrests were up again last year, to 4,754 people. Authorities claim to have seized 811kg of heroin and 772kg of opium.

This is not impressive. The 312 tonnes of opium which the UN believes were harvested in 2005 would yield more than 30 tonnes of heroin _ so more than 29 tonnes are unaccounted for, even by the regime's reasoning.

By all accounts, heroin trafficking from Burma has actually increased. Neighbours including Thailand are concerned. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao publicly told his Burmese counterpart to take tougher action against "drugs flooding across the border". Premier Soe Win promised to look into it.

In fact, Burma seems likely to continue as the region's top drug producer and exporter.

US Lawmakers Focus on Human Rights

A recent article at VOA reports on human rights in countries of concern.

This is the little bit they have to say about Burma:

Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Barry Lowenkron, says the situation in Burma continues to be a high priority for the Bush administration.

"Only by Burma's return to the democratic path from which it was wrenched, can the basic rights of the Burmese people be realized," said Barry Lowenkron. "The regime's misrule has inflicted tremendous suffering on the Burmese people and caused or exacerbated a host of ills for its neighbors, from refugee outflows, to the spread of infectious diseases, and the trafficking of drugs and human beings."

Lowenkron says the Bush administration is pursuing what he called all avenues on Burma, including further steps at the United Nations, and pressure on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

VOA News - US Lawmakers Focus on Human Rights

This is quite a good summary! Burma needs to continue in the spotlight in regards its human rights abuses. Aung Sun Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for far too long. All dissent is squashed. The people live in fear. Minority groups experience constant attacks from the military such that they are unable to live safely in their villages or till their land for food. They are constantly being forced to flee to the jungles while their houses and crops are torched. Malnutrition is becoming more evident among the children out in the jungle areas.

Talk has gone on long enough. Isn't it time for some real action?

Michelle Malkin: A CHRISTIAN ON TRIAL

Thanks Michelle for highlighting this case! It deserves to be followed up and kept in the spotlight.

Michelle Malkin: A CHRISTIAN ON TRIAL

Even though religious freedom is guaranteed under the constitution, it actually only goes so far and no further... I suppose if Abdul had been an atheist, or a buddhist, and had converted to Christianity then that would have been okay. But for a Muslim to convert to Christianity... Oh, no, no, no!! That is a big no-no!! And all because he is also still under the strict Islamic law.

Seems like this makes this makes a bit of a farce of the constitution.

Abdul's been a Christian for 16 years! Why now?

Virus blamed for obesity epidemic

Today's Sydney Morning Herald carries a story that does my heart good! Obesity could be caused by a virus... that would be very nice if it's proved that people have gained weight because of a virus and not because of snacking!

Hmmm... I wonder if I could blame my weight on a virus... that'd be nice... I wouldn't need to feel so guilty when I have that "little" snack!

AS MANY as one in five Australians may have contracted a virus linked to obesity. Blood tests on 2000 Australians, carried out in the US, showed about 20 per cent of them had been exposed to a virus called Ad-36, which some researchers say can cause weight gain.

The idea that fatness is catching is controversial. However, Richard Atkinson, Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who did the testing, said a fat virus could help explain the worldwide epidemic of obesity.

Read more at:

Virus blamed for obesity epidemic

Cash machine raids: two ATMs stolen

ATM ram riding seems to be a popular pasttime in Oz these days. Hardly a week goes by without reports of a stolen vehicles being used to ram the buildings where the ATMs are. Seems like dangerous work to me... I suppose they get quite of bit of the readies to make it worthwhile. I pity the owners of the stolen vehicles, I guess their vehicles are pretty much write-offs after those joy rides!

Cash machine raids: two ATMs stolen

Child porn ring called the worst imaginable

Now they're saying that this busted porn ring is the worst imaginable!

The numbers of those arrested increase... and the number of Aussies arrested is up to 4. It is very distressing to see that one of the Aussies is from my home area of Lake Macquarie. I just hope he's not from my home town!

Child porn ring called the worst imaginable

FOUR Australian men are among 29 people arrested for alleged involvement in what the US Attorney-General, Alberto Gonzales, called "the worst imaginable forms of child pornography".

Internet videos of live molestation were included in thousands of images of child abuse, involving victims as young as 18 months, allegedly revealed in an undercover investigation of a private internet chat room used in the United States, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Britain.

The Australian arrests included a 30-year-old Lake Macquarie man, a 56-year-old man from Mill Park, in Melbourne, and a 22-year-old man from Stafford, in Brisbane. A fourth man, a 38-year-old from Ashgrove, in Brisbane, was arrested yesterday.

An Australian Federal Police agent, Peter Drennan, above, said all Australian charges related to an international peer-to-peer network involving the swapping of child abuse images over the internet.

Shot Coke worker keeps payout

Coke does the right thing!

Coca-Cola is working with its insurer to make sure a former Sydney contractor who was shot while at work will not have to repay part of a damages award he has already received.

Coca-Cola also said it would contribute to the ongoing living costs of Craig Pareezer, who has been stripped of $2.9 million he was awarded after suing the soft-drinks giant.

The court ordered Mr Pareezer to pay back more than $500,000 he had already received following the December 2004 NSW Supreme Court ruling.

Read more at:

Shot Coke worker keeps payout

Milosevic supporters prepare tributes ahead of funeral

Even in death Milosevic is causing controversy! If he was fiddling his medication I wonder if he miscalculated his fiddles and it killed him. I bet he got a shock when he woke up wherever he is now! It certainly isn't Russia!

Yahoo News has this article:

Milosevic supporters prepare tributes ahead of funeral

It is unfortunate is that now there can be no resolution for those who suffered under his regime during the years when those Balkan atrocities were carried out. Will any of the perpetrators ever be brought to justice in this life?

Syria, Lebanon to pay for Danish embassy damages

This will be something if Syria and Lebanon come good with the goods to pay for the fire damage to the Danish embassies!

Yahoo News carries the story:

Syria, Lebanon to pay for Danish embassy damages

Hat tip: Freedom for Egyptians

Aussie guilty on NZ sex abuse charges

Even though it is so many years since the abuse occurred I am glad to see that this man is being brought to account for his actions against the little girls who were only 11 to 13 yrs of age at the time. As the adult, I guess he was able to sufficiently intimidate them with with threats of a fearful enough nature that they remained silent for a long time. How much shame have they lived with in the ensuing years? I hope this verdict helps them in their healing journey!

This from today's SMH:

Aussie guilty on NZ sex abuse charges

Man shot in buttocks outside city pub

Man shot in buttocks outside city pub

I guess this guy will have some problems sitting down for a while!

Michelle Malkin: THE FALLING MAN REVISITED

Go see this! It's a must read... and reflect on what was and what is. What will be depends upon our response to the defining moments of history.

Michelle Malkin: THE FALLING MAN REVISITED

Porn ring busted!

In another crackdown on internet porn 27 people have been caught in 9 US states, Canada, Australia and Britain.

Aussies arrested over net child porn ring

It beggars belief that anyone could sexually abuse an infant! How can anyone be so perverse? What is wrong with them? And to do it live on the internet. This is so disgusting! It is just heart breaking...

The awful truth is that this is just the tip of the iceberg and no doubt hardly makes a dint in the perverted behaviour and its pictorial dissemination.

Two Australian men have been charged in an undercover operation over an international child pornography ring that has so far netted 27 people worldwide, Australian Federal Police say.

The investigation has so far identified seven child victims, some as young as 18 months, including an infant whose molestation in April by a US man was transmitted live via an internet chat room to a co-conspirator who used the screen name "BigtDaddy619".

Extreme application of moral law in Indonesia

Be thankful you're not a woman living in Indonesia!

The following story in today's Sydney Morning Herald fairly makes the blood curdle. The fact that this lady, Lilis Lindawati, was not listened to nor believed, was treated abomniably, denied basic rights to call family, and presumed guilty of being a prostitute simply because she was on the street after dark and had lipstick in her purse is most disturbing. My goodness, lipstick!! For crying out loud!!

It seems as if the mayor of Tangerang, a satellite city on Jakarta's outskirts, might be interpreting sharia law for his own political ends, and it might have nothing to do with morality and purity.

I do wonder who really speaks for Islam. Is there any unifying centre? The catholics have the pope and a college of cardinals. The anglicans have their synod or whatever. The buddhists in Thailand have a supreme sangha council. Is there anything of the sort for Islam? It seems like there are many Islamic factions each deciding what it considers appropriate or inappropriate irrespective of any other faction. Then the more radical factions attempt to foist their rules on the rest of the world, and even onto the other factions. It's all very disturbing!

Anyway, here's the SMH article:

Islamic moral drive spreads fear in Indonesia

By Mark Forbes Herald Correspondent and Karuni Rompies in Jakarta
March 11, 2006

LILIS LINDAWATI finished waitressing at 8pm and was waiting for a bus when the men in brown shirts came. Five jumped from the back of a ute and forced her into a nearby van.

The frightened, three-months-pregnant mother of two was about to become another casualty of Indonesia's escalating morality war. Her crime: she was female, alone and wearing make-up. A tube of lipstick sealed her fate.

New bylaws championed by the ambitious mayor of Tangerang, a satellite city on Jakarta's outskirts, aim to drive out gamblers, drunks and prostitutes. They are enforced by a small army of "public order officers" who cruise the streets, able to arrest anyone at whim.

The move has created a de facto curfew for women in Tangerang. If they are caught alone at night they must prove they are not prostitutes.

As well as banning "physical intimacy" in public places, a bylaw states a woman "who behaves suspiciously" on streets or in hotels, theatres, coffee shops - even private houses - will be jailed.

Tangerang is not the only regional administration to introduce bylaws reflecting sharia - Islamic law. And a proposed national anti-pornography law will ban public kissing and any clothing considered alluring. Baring a navel would earn a jail term.

Moderate Muslim organisations are supporting the changes, but intellectuals, feminists and artists are beginning to mobilise against what they believe is a hardline agenda to reshape Indonesia. This week, on International Womens Day, thousands of Indonesian women demonstrated against the morality campaign.

A fortnight ago, Mrs Lindawati, 36, was ignorant of the debate.

"For God's sake, I am not a prostitute. I am a good woman. I have a husband and I have children," she protested.

But the officers ignored pleas to call her family, jailing her overnight. The next morning she was hauled from a two-room cottage to go on trial in the forecourt of the palatial offices of the Mayor, Wahidin Halim, where a large crowd was celebrating the city's anniversary.

"Everybody was watching," said Mrs Lindawati. She told the judge, Barmen Sinurat, she was not a prostitute. He demanded she empty her handbag, which contained face powder and lipstick.

"Then the judge said, 'There is powder and lipstick in your bag. That means you're lying to say that you are a housewife,' " she recounted. "I am hurt, insulted, because people think I am a prostitute. Please don't blame me if I put on make-up. Many housewives today put on make-up, otherwise our husbands will go away for another woman."

Her request to call her husband, a teacher at the local state school, was again rejected.

Striking his gavel three times, Judge Sinurat pronounced: "You are guilty. You are prostitute." Unable to pay a $40 fine, Mrs Lindawati was jailed for three days.

Mr Wahidin, brother of the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, was unmoved by Mrs Lindawati's plight.

"She could not prove she is not a prostitute," he told the Herald. "It is true when my men arrested her she was not committing adultery, but why does she put on such make-up?"

What's more, said Mr Wahidin, she wore tight clothes and "a good girl would not stand in the street with that kind of dress".

"The point is we can tell someone is a prostitute or not … They stand in the street moving their body, waving their hands, trying to attract people, seducing." Mr Wahidin denies the changes are political. There are rumours he will stand for regional governor and his morality bylaws have won support from powerful, Islamic-orientated parties.

A legal aid activist, Astuti Listyaningrum, said the show trial of Mrs Lindawati and 26 others was an abuse of the legal process. "Of course they looked terrible, looked terrified. Not because they are prostitutes, but because they were nervous," she said.

Despite the support of her neighbours, Mrs Lindawati now refuses to venture out. Other women have begun carrying letters from their employers explaining they must work late.

This is great!

Finally, some of our aboriginal friends are getting the recognition they deserve!!! About time, too! The story below is from today's Sydney Morning Herald.

Recently I received word that a wise, kind and lovely aborginal lady died recently from a recurrence of cancer. Ruby Naden was from Gilgandra and a friend from many many years ago. She was greatly honoured in the community and loved by many. The church where her funeral was held was packed to overflowing. Her newphew, an Anglican minister led the service. I wish I could have been there too!

Aboriginal doctor honoured for medical research

By Anne Davies and Ben Cubby
March 9, 2006

ONE OF Australia's foremost indigenous medical researchers, Sandra Eades, has been named the 2006 NSW Woman of the Year, in recognition of her work in identifying links between social factors such as housing and infant health.

Professor Eades, the first Aboriginal medical doctor to be awarded a PhD, was named as the winner of the award by the Premier, Morris Iemma, at a function to celebrate International Women's Day.

"Tonight we recognise and celebrate the outstanding contribution Sandra Eades has made to Aboriginal health research," Mr Iemma said.

"In particular, I acknowledge her role in improving the health of Aboriginal women and children through pediatric and perinatal epidemiology."

Professor Eades is a senior research fellow in Aboriginal Health at the Sax Institute, Sydney and conjoint professor in the faculty of public health at the University of Newcastle.

Nominations for the NSW Woman of the Year are sought from all NSW MPs and ministers. Professor Eades was nominated by the Minister for Science and Medical Research, Frank Sartor.

"Professor Eades was the first to show a strong link between infant health and social factors such as education and access to housing," Mr Sartor said.

"Her current research involves culturally specific smoking intervention for pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and the establishment of a major study among NSW Aboriginal children and families attending urban Aboriginal medical services," he said.

Also yesterday, Sarina Bratton won the Veuve Clicquot Award, an annual prize for women who have gained unusual success in business. Ms Bratton established a network of luxury cruises to various Australian ports, including in the Kimberley region and Tasmania, becoming the first woman in the world to found a shipping line - Orion Expedition Cruises.

"It's not going to make a difference to the way we go about our business … but it is very nice," Ms Bratton said, before pausing to kiss her husband, who had just arrived with a bunch of red roses.

Pray for Burma, March 12

Burma has become one of the poorest nations on earth. As it slides deeper into poverty the few in power continue to become richer and richer as they rape the country and line their own pockets without a care for the suffering of others. Hardly anyone in the world raises a peep. Sadly, fear, suspicion, and racial hatreds are fostered to keep the minority groups fighting one another rather than standing up against the common enemy. Actually, bloodshed is not the answer. Bloodshed and the destruction of villages and the murder of innocent villagers has not brought resolution to anything. They need help and hope from another quarter.


On Sunday March 12, there is the "Global Day of Prayer for Burma". I want to encourage everyone to participate. This country has been oppressed for too long. The govt pays no attention to world opinion. A divine intervention is needed to set the land and its people free.

There is a very helpful website, Christians Concerned for Burma, where you can find info for the day of prayer as well as facts about what goes on inside this country.

See also "Genocide in Burma" on this blog.

Macaulay Culkin, another child star in trouble

Yesterday's SMH had a short article about Macaulay Culkin's struggles to get work as an actor. He doesn't know where he fits any more. He's been in trouble with the police because of drugs. There have probably been other troubles of which I know nothing. What I do know is that my heart aches for him and others like him who've been thrust into the limelight at an age when they are too young to deal with all the fame and attention.

How many child stars actually grow up to be healthy well-adjusted adults? Does the movie industry help these youngsters to deal with the consequences of fame and attention? Or are they simply used and discarded when they no longer "behave themselves" or when they no longer have that cute charm that made them so lovable on film?

I thoroughly enjoyed the "Home Alone" movies, especially the one in which Macaulay Culkin starred. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I still enjoy watching the reruns. For some reason I dislike intensely the ones that have been produced since with another child star. They don't feel so spontaneously funny feeling about them.

Culkin struggles to get work
March 7, 2006 - 12:20PM

Former US child star Macaulay Culkin says he has trouble getting work and barely speaks to his friend Michael Jackson.

Culkin told Time magazine he has only spoken to Jackson once since the singer moved to Dubai after being cleared of child sex abuse charges.

"He's doing O.K. I mean, yeah, he's a friend, but the kind of friend you talk to twice a year," he said.

Culkin's semi-autobiographical, stream-of-consciousness novel, Junior, is due to be published this month.

The actor has acknowledged that readers of the book, which reportedly contains many lists, including of people he hates, may think he is insane.

"I've led a very isolated existence since I was 6 years old. It's kind of been me and my mind.

"I hope people don't think I'm crazy because I'm not. I might be feeding into it."

The 25-year-old said he did not know where he fitted in in Hollywood any more and was the most out-of-work actor he knew.

The Home Alone star said he even considered taking up sports management as a career.

"As a 4-year-old, I didn't say I wanted to be an actor. Acting found me," he told Time.

"I thought maybe I should try to find it again. We'll see."

Culkin said he was yet to become engaged to the star of That 70s Show, Mila Kunis, who he has been dating for four years.

"I enjoy cooking for her. I do a really good shrimp scampi. I lead a simple life. I feed the fish. I walk the dogs. I cook dinner. Occasionally I take a meeting."

smh.com.au

Lonely deaths... again

Sadly, in NSW, Australia there are more elderly deaths being discovered long after they have died. I wrote about this back in Feb (Lonely deaths!) after the 6th person had been found. Some had been dead 8 months. Now another decomposed body has been found.

Some changes are desperately needed in our society. My mother is 89 this year and my brother calls her every morning to make sure she is okay. If Mum does not pick up the phone he drives out to check on her. Something of this sort is good to do. Where the elderly person has no family then perhaps community services or some welfare agency could to set up a system of phoning each day to make sure that the person living alone is okay.

Today's lonely death is in today's SMH. Let's do something to change this terrible circumstance in a lonely person's life!

Elderly woman's decomposed body found

March 7, 2006 - 6:14AM

Advice from the NSW government to take care of neighbours has come too late for an elderly woman whose decomposed body has been found in her north Sydney home.

Police and NSW Fire Brigades officers found the body of the 86-year-old woman at her home on St John's Avenue in Gordon about 7.30pm (AEDT) yesterday, a police spokesman said.

Worried neighbours called police because they had not spoken to her since January.

The discovery of the woman's body is the seventh in only a month.

The bodies of six NSW residents were discovered in similar circumstances in just two weeks last month.

Some of the bodies were decomposed, having been undiscovered for up to eight months.

The latest discovery was made just hours before the state government announced a campaign this morning to encourage public housing tenants to look out for one another after the spate of gruesome discoveries.

Housing Minister Cherie Burton also announced $200,000 in extra funding over two years for a community development project at the Northcott building in Surry Hills.

"Public housing tenants should take responsibility for the future of their communities - and that includes being a good neighbour," Ms Burton said.

"Taking care of your neighbours is something we need to do more as a community and as a community we all need to make more effort."

She said things neighbours could do to keep in touch with each other included looking out for a build-up of mail in letterboxes, organising social activities and inviting people in for a cup of tea.

AAP

Thailand's political turmoil escalates

Thailand's political turmoil continues to escalate as thousands upon thousands of protesters demand that Thaksin step down as even caretaker prime minister while Thaksin himself stubbornly refuses to give in to their demands. The situation is becoming disturbingly volatile.

Today's Bangkok Post has a number of articles about the situation:

Crowd Pushes On

The snowballing protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra entered their fifth week last night with a new strategy: An indefinite campaign of nightly protests at Sanam Luang, until Mr Thaksin resigns.

The protesters last night marched to the Democracy Monument and then to Government House where they heard a continuing series of speeches from anti-Thaksin speakers, before leaders announced they would return to Sanam Luang to plan and kick off the prolonged resistance early today.

Mr Thaksin, meanwhile, remained defiant and told a crowd of about 20,000 supporters in Khon Kaen province that he would not bow to pressure.

Many prominent citizens are asking the King to intervene. This may be what's needed in order to avoid bloodshed and the country descending into further chaos.

Social 'elite' call on King to appoint PM

Nearly 100 prominent citizens, celebrities and the just plain elite have petitioned His Majesty the King for a royally bestowed prime minister and interim government to ensure a fair election and supervision of the charter amendment.

Many who were loyal party members are now taking their leave of the Thai Rak party and joining the protesters. Praphat has had significant experience in rallying against corrupt governments when he was part of the student uprisings in 1973 and 1976.

Praphat quits Thai Rak Thai to join rally

Former environment minister and student activist Praphat Panyachartrak yesterday resigned as a member of the Thai Rak Thai party to join a campaign to oust his party chief Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Praphat, also a former deputy agriculture and cooperatives minister during the first Thaksin administration, is the first of the so-called "October people" _ students involved in the Oct 14, 1973 and Oct 6, 1976 uprisings _ to rebel against Mr Thaksin and the ruling Thai Rak Thai party.

Several activists of the 1970s hold posts in the Thaksin government and Thai Rak Thai party executive. They include caretaker Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, caretaker Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Adisorn Piengkes, and caretaker Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Vejjayachai.

A disturbing report of interference in the processes of democartic freedoms of speech as the police appear to be hindering protesters entering Bangkok from the provinces yet those coming to support Thaksin seem not to be hindered at all:

Police stop traffic headed for city rally

Police set up highway checkpoints yesterday and stopped vehicles heading into Bangkok for "arms and drugs checks," apparently to deter people from joining the anti-Thaksin Shinawatra demonstration at Sanam Luang.

As far away as Sa Kaeo, checkpoints mushroomed on the orders of Police Region 2 chief Lt-Gen Jongrak Juthanont. Vehicles leaving the province for Bangkok were stopped for painstaking searches and inquiries.

At Ban Kaeng district in Sa Kaeo, traffic was blocked as angry bus passengers sat down on the highway after a half-hour row with policemen manning the checkpoints. The police eventually allowed them to travel on.

In Saraburi, at least 13 checkpoints were set up around the province at dawn yesterday.

Frustrated drivers caught in the jam said police at a checkpoint at Phra Phutthabat police station delayed their trips.

People of influence and standing are trying to encourage Thaksin to step down. Why won't he? Does he really care about the country? Or only about his own position and the power of it?

Prawase urges PM to give up premiership

Leading scholar Prawase Wasi reiterated his call for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign from the post yesterday, saying the move was the best solution to the current political crisis.

Dr Prawase said Mr Thaksin could step down or ordain as a monk to end the political conflict like what happened during the Ayutthaya period.

He said when a leader of a country lacks morality, the country is bound to face political turmoil.

Morality and corruption were the talk of the day by people in every corner of society. "People used to think that just politicians were corrupt but now we have reached a stage where corruption allegations involve the entire family of a politician and his cronies, he said.

Chiang Mai is Thaksin's hometown. He has enjoyed a lot of support from the province. He has also undertaken to bring a lot of improvements to the city. Why, there's even a new International Terminal being built at the airport. The city is constantly being beautified. However, this is not guaranteeing continued support during this crisis time. His support seems to be crumbling... being washed away like topsoil down the Ping River.

PM's support unsure even in the North

Chiang Mai: Even in this northern city, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's hometown, not all people are standing by his side in the current political conflict.

A couple of Chiang Mai citizens were willing to express their disappointment with the prime minister:

A clothes-shop owner at Tha Phae said most people in town had lost faith in the premier. She herself was one of the premier's supporters, but has changed her mind and now wants him to leave office.

"I still like his style in general, but I don't like the fact that he has misused his authority to serve his own interests. The sale of his family's shares is one example. The concession that he acquired is supposed to belong to the country, but now we are not sure whether it's still ours," she said.

A 27-year-old tuk-tuk driver from Mae Rim district said he learned about the sale of the shares owned by Mr Thaksin's family and wondered why Mr Thaksin did not have to pay taxes when eveyone else did.

However, he said Mr Thaksin had done a lot to develop the city since becoming prime minister. There were more new roads, the city was cleaner, and more tourists were visiting.

However, since opposition against the premier has grown, his income had fallen by half as fewer visitors were using his tuk-tuk service now.

"I have not decided who I will vote for. I hardly have time to do anything except making a living," he said.

Thailand has enjoyed incredible economic growth in the past few years. It has been a stabilising influence in the region. It's unfortunate that the country is still plagued by self-seeking politicians who care more for lining their own pockets than they do for the welfare of the nation.

Genocide in Burma

Although this is something that has been known for many years, it is nice that it is finally making it into the world's newspapers. There has been much documentation of the situation in Burma. Why hasn't that documentation made a difference? Is it because there's finally a Thai intelligence officer who's making known the evidence he's found.

Burma has become one of the poorest nations on earth while it's leaders have become very rich... and without any care for the suffering of the ordinary people in the country.

New evidence backs claims of genocide in Burma
By Mike Thomson in Rangoon
(Filed: 05/03/2006)

Fresh evidence has emerged that Burma's military government, which seized power in 1962 and has since waged a brutal war against rebel ethnic groups, has been carrying out acts of genocide against its own people.

There have been allegations that in the past decade, soldiers have burnt to the ground as many as 3,000 villages and raped, looted or killed many of their inhabitants. Now, a Thai intelligence officer has uncovered what he believes is proof that these were systematic atrocities ordered by the state.

The middle-aged officer, who asked to be identified only as Thau, has spent several years studying intercepted Burmese military communications and analysing material found at the scene of horrific incidents inside Burma.

It was during recent searches of the bodies of Burmese soldiers killed by rebels that the evidence was discovered. "We found some leaflets on the corpse of a Burmese officer," he said. "They said that the minority Shan people are the enemy and have to be destroyed."

When asked whether this referred to Shan or simply Shan fighters, he replied: "It's the Shan race. That's happened with other races, too."

Shan state, which lies just inside Burma's border with Thailand, has seen some of the most brutal battles between rebel fighters and Burmese government soldiers.

Beheadings by troops of the State Peace and Development Council - the official title of Burma's ruling military junta - are common. So too are beatings, the use of forced labour and rape. Growing use of amphetamines among Burma's 400,000-strong army is fuelling this violence.

David Matheson, a narcotics expert from the Australian National University who is based in Thailand, said researchers had concluded that many troops went into battle high on amphetamines. "When they come across dead Burmese soldiers, they find methamphetamine tablets on most of them if not all of them, particularly in the Shan state," he said.

The brutality of the attacks is evident in video footage, taken by members of the evangelical Christian missionary group the Free Burma Rangers, of the burning of villages. The organisation is one of the few to travel deep into the Eastern Burmese forest region where an estimated 500,000 people have been driven from their homes by the military.

The video shows young men, armed with AK47s, setting fire to bamboo homes as residents flee in terror.

The Rangoon government of Gen Than Shwe seems content with the status quo. Its biggest opponent, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning leader of the National League for Democracy, remains under house arrest.

Her party's landslide election victory in 1990 has never been recognised by the government, which continues to hold more than 1,100 political prisoners. The junta has been gaining ground in its long-running war with rebel ethnic minority groups such as the Karen, Shan and Karenni. These groups, who are trying to win autonomy from Rangoon, have had to adopt guerilla warfare after sustaining heavy losses.

The Karen's commander, Gen Mu Tu See, is not in any mood to give up the fight against the nation's military Junta. "To stop the war is to surrender," he said. "The atrocities will go on because these people are not for democracy."

But does a man who has seen so many of his people die and his army dwindle really believe that his military campaign has been a success? With a weary smile he replies: "It's a draw. Nobody is winning and nobody will win."

In Rangoon, grinding poverty is accompanied by a lack of political freedom. Locals emerging from a cinema were too petrified to discuss their lives or give their names. However, two students described how they had spent 15 years in jail for speaking out in favour of democracy. One claimed he was forced to act like a dog, moving on all fours and "barking" when wardens called his name.

Severe restrictions are being placed on foreign aid agencies, including a proposed new requirement that they employ only people offered to them by the government.

Charles Petrie, the United Nations resident co-ordinator in Burma, said implementation of this would lead to an exodus of aid organisations because of their "inability to function".

As ever, it is the ordinary people who suffer most. At a refugee camp at Mae Sot, a Thai border town, a young Burmese man called Salwa, who lost a leg after stepping on a mine as he fled his home, described how his parents had urged him to run for his life when soldiers arrived.

"They are old and couldn't keep up with us," he said. "We wanted to stop and help them but there was no time. When I returned, I found their bodies."

• Mike Thomson's reports on life in Burma will be broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme at 7.30am from Monday to Friday this week.

The article has also been published in today's Sydney Morning Herald. I hope it gets published in many other newspapers around the world!

This coming Sunday, March 12, is the "Global Day of Prayer for Burma". I encourage everyone to participate. This country has been oppressed for too long. The govt pays no attention to world opinion. A divine intervention is needed to set the land and its people free.

Check out the Christians Concerned for Burma website as they have info for the day of prayer. They also have a lot of other info, with pictures, about the sitation inside Burma.