Category: The Dish

A moving and funny account of long-term HIV survival. The benefits of living long past your former die-by date: gout and a crooked penis. Ah, what I have to look forward to.

It has something to do with Christmas. Ambers explains.

Caution: all these reports are as iffy as their English is somewhat garbled. But hope springs:

Military sources in Rangoon are claiming that the regime’s number two, General Maung Aye (right), has staged a coup against Than Shwe, and that his troops are now guarding Aung San Suu Kyi’s home. A meeting between him and Suu Kyi is expected. Maung Aye is army commander-in-chief and a renowned pragmatist. 29 Sep 07, 01:43

URGENT : From internal source: It is heard that the junta has set a plot to assassinate the most senior venerable monks (Sanga Maha Naryaka) tonight as if it is done by the monks involved in the protest.

More here:

Reports from Rangoon suggest soldiers are mutinying. It is unclear the numbers involved. Reports cite heavy shooting in the former Burmese capital.

The organisation Helfen ohne Grenzen (Help without Frontiers) is reporting that "Soldiers from the 66th LID (Light Infantry Divison) have turned their weapons against other government troops and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved."

Chris Dillow explores the chances of a military revolt here. The brutality of the troops in such a peaceful country may be backfiring:

This picture on the top right is part of the human brain of a young boy attacked by Burmese SPDC soldiers at Tarmwe Township, Yangon yesterday. Riot police were not using rubber-coated rods. They were using heavy iron rods instead, which broke the skull, putting the young man to the end on the spot. This photo was taken after the dead body was taken away by the notorious Burmese soldiers.

Obviously, I can’t verify this. But, given the record of SLORC and its thugs, it’s believable.

Some leads for Burma blogging: Yan Aung’s site is here; Lun Swe’s is here. An online suggestion for how to help. It’s gratifying to see so many pitching in. McConnell and Feinstein have even come together in the Senate. Radio Free Asia is doubling its broadcasts to the country; so is Voice of America. Even Facebook is helping:

In response to the Buddhist monk-led protest in Burma, a Facebook group, "Support the Monks’ protest in Burma" is using the Internet to organize and promote gatherings and other initiatives. One of these is a Facebook event called Red Shirt for Burma, encouraging people to wear a red t-shirt on the 28th of September as a show of support.

At present, more than 4,000 people have pledged their support for Red Shirt for Burma with an impressive near-35,000 people joining the Facebook group that is helping to promote the event.

Check out the Flickr red shirt pics here. I know it seems pious, but if any of these images reach Burma, they can help give the beleaguered Burmese – and ethnic minorities in Burma’s hinterlands – help. In Asia, South Korea’s citizen-journalists are demanding that their own government do more.

Rudy explains why he took that call-phone call from Judith during his NRA speech. 9/11 apparently makes it vital to talk to your spouses at all times. No, I’m not making that up.

It’s worth reminding ourselves:

Mr. Obama’s aides said more than 20,000 people registered for the event through the campaign’s Web site. While it was impossible to determine even a reliable attendance estimate, view from the vantage point of an elevated lift seemed to reveal the gathering as one of the largest campaign events of the year.

Which other candidate can even begin to get 20,000 people for a rally in September the year before any actual votes are taken? Washington may have already decided Clinton has won; but the country hasn’t. You’re seeing an enormous demand for real change, for a different kind of politics, for a way out of the polarized boomer world. I don’t know if Obama can channel this effectively. I do know it’s real, and the most powerful force in these coming elections.

(Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty.)

Heaven knows what the casualties are, and as the country gets cut off from the outside world, it’s hard not to fear the worst:

Bob Davis, Australia’s ambassador to Burma, said he had heard unconfirmed reports that the death toll following two days of violence was "several multiples of the 10 acknowledged by the authorities."

The AP suspects, but has not confirmed, that deaths could be in the hundreds at this point. Japan is pressing for an investigation into the killing of a Japanese journalist. There are some reports that the resistance is becoming more violent, more disorganized and more explicitly anti-junta:

Chants from the protestors have taken on a different tone from earlier messages of goodwill, with protestors calling for lightning to strike and kill those who had attacked monks.

“Before they were chanting metta, but now they are cursing the soldiers,” said a local resident.

More confirmation of the trend here:

Crowds of people taunted soldiers in the centre of Rangoon today, swearing at them and then running into side alleys of Burma’s biggest city when the troops feigned a charge, a witness said.

Men were shouting at the soldiers in English: "Fuck you. Go fuck yourself".

Protesting government censorship, Rangoon’s journalists have chosen to shut down their presses rather than print more lies. The junta is now hunting down people in offices who have been taking photographs and posting them on the web:

I got a news from my friends that last night some military guys searched office computers from Traders and Sakura Tower building. Most of the downtown movement photos were took from office rooms of those high buildings. GSM phone lines and some land lines were also cut out and very difficult to contact even in local. GSM short message sending service is not working also. Burma is blacked out now!

Maybe technology can help keep the world’s eye focused. Satellite images of riots and massacres might be available soon:

"We should get the first images back in the next day or so," says Lars Bromley, a senior researcher with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington DC.

Keeping the world’s attention through the blogosphere is now essential. The revolution is not only going to be blogged; in some respects, the blogosphere is now critical to the survival of the revolution. Know hope.

(Photo: A Burmese monk holds a placard during a protest outside the Burmese embassy on September 28, 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand. Dozens of Buddhist monks and hundreds of people gathered to demonstrate against the Burmese government, urging the junta to stop violence and its crackdown against protestors and Buddhist monks. By Chumsak Kanoknan/Getty Images.) 

He gets it, and rightly worries that the UN is too compromised by China’s influence.

Some mixed reports here. The situation is obviously as opaque as it is complex. Money quote:

Soldiers from LID #66 have turned their weapons against other SPDC soldiers and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are  defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved. Some reports cite "heavy shooting" in the area.

Other unconfirmed reports have stated that soldiers from LID #33 in Mandalay have refused  orders to act against protesters. Some reports claim that many soldiers remained in their barracks. More recent reports now maintain that soldiers from LID #99 now being sent there to confront them.

Reports of approx. 10,000+ protesters gathering around the Traders Hotel in Rangoon.  Other reports of 10,000+ protesters gathering at San Pya Market in Rangoon. Further reports of approx. 50,000 protestors gathering at the Thein Gyi Market in Rangoon.

Sydney, Australia, 3.50 pm.