Burma

[AGROculture]

As many of you know 100 000 people are probably dead and it could go up to 1 million. I'm in Cambodioa right now which isn't too far. I've met several travellers that were in Burma slightlty before the typhoon.

I went to Burma last year and witnessed first hand how horrible the government is there. Such as thing like cancelling money and reissueing a new currency so that all the money they saved is now worthless. Or shutting down electricity several times per day. Blocking pretty much all websites that lead to the outside world such as CNN, hotmail etc.

What I haven't seen on the news is before storm came the government shut down the electricity in the country and internet for 3 days straight. Which is much longer than usual. I heard this fro sources within the country. To me it seems that the government knew the storm was coming and purposly didn't want the people of Burma to know it was coming so they copuldn't prepare. That way the referendum would go as planned on the same date but nonone would be able to vote.

Anyway the point of this message

Could you imagine living in a country where the governent is so terrible. I feel blessed living in a country such as Canada.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by AGROculture

Such as thing like cancelling money and reissueing a new currency so that all the money they saved is now worthless.

sounds like something the global bankster thugs of the monarchs, the rothchilds, would do...oh wait a min...

i did the burma 'visa run' back in 04...i was shocked at what i saw.

[Revolver]

oh, and dave link up your blog for people here....ive been reading it and its OUTSTANDING!.

[Grapes]

If this doesn't make your blood boil, check for a pulse

Swear to God, if there was ever a case for an internationally backed military overthrow of a nation's government (if "government" isn't too charitable a term for this pack of hyenas in uniforms), this is it.

[SWIFTBEATS]

it is easy enough for us to say we are happy to live in a country like canada, but the sad fact is that countries like canada feed off of these post colonial regimes, it keeps us in nike's and fast cars. for example the largest minning company in burma is canadian and they have a 50/50 profit share with the regime, which helps to pay for things such as their guns/tanks ect.

[Revolver]

Originally Posted by SWIFTBEATS

it is easy enough for us to say we are happy to live in a country like canada, but the sad fact is that countries like canada feed off of these post colonial regimes, it keeps us in nike's and fast cars. for example the largest minning company in burma is canadian and they have a 50/50 profit share with the regime, which helps to pay for things such as their guns/tanks ect.

seriously swifbeats....like everyone one of your posts is spot on..

i completely agree with this....yes, we live in a comfortable society and canada is great all this and that but this is a commonwealth country...the commonwealth is DRENCHED in blood and tyranny. and is interchangeble with radical bankster zionists who are basically behind EVERYTHING.

people have this fooolish idea that the president of the united states is the most powerful person on earth.....OOOOOH no....

Its the pharaoh of..,oops, i mean queen of england.

but anyways....yes, poor burmeese people. just another natural disaster/earth clenseing in the most polluted region on the planet...

gaia is pissed.....

*dont get me wrong, ive traveled all over the globe and have spent alot of time in developing,3rd world and politicaly unstable countries so i realize how damn lucky we are to be living here...too bad that it also breeds the worst case of apathy possible

[Grapes]

Oh and on a related note:

At least 3 of Vancouver's daily rags could not find a place for the death of at least 50,000 burmese and potentially hundreds of thousands more on their front pages today.

A story about a murdered monkey made the front page of those same papers.

*clap*...... *clap* ..........

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Grapes

Oh and on a related note:

At least 3 of Vancouver's daily rags could not find a place for the death of at least 50,000 burmese and potentially hundreds of thousands more on their front pages today.

A story about a murdered monkey made the front page of those same papers.

*clap*...... *clap* ..........

See: Things that piss me off post for today.

I know I've said it before on here but I'll say it again: 24 hour is an advertisement, not a newspaper.

[Grapes]

Sad thing is I didn't even see metro today; other papers were the Sun and Province.

[ebbomega]

I picked up a copy of the G&M today. Front page photo + 1-page spread in world news section + various articles regarding it throughout the paper.

God it's nice to read a real newspaper every once in a while.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

See: Things that piss me off post for today.

I know I've said it before on here but I'll say it again: 24 hour is an advertisement, not a newspaper.

Yeah. Go look at the post. It does piss me off. What kind of person could do something like that? I'm sure you look at it as not as important as everything else bigger going on in the world. But believe it or not, seeing something as small as breaking into a zoo, killing a monkey and taking the other one is disturbing to me. Does that make me less of a person? Didn't think so.

*Edit: I agree with what you said about the 24 hours.

[ebbomega]

I generally don't trust the remnants of the Conrad Black empire. That includes the Post, Van Sun, Province... and the daily rags are... well... excellent toilet paper. Sad thing is I get more rounded news coverage from the google news front page than those useless AP/Reuters re-feeds.

If I ever buy a newspaper it's the Globe.

[Grapes]

Ebbo, Not to be all morally superior about it, but .. reading The Globe and appreciating it on the level that we do makes us morally superior.

There, I said it.

[Grapes]

Originally Posted by Erin

I'm sure you look at it as not as important as everything else bigger going on in the world. But believe it or not, seeing something as small as breaking into a zoo, killing a monkey and taking the other one is disturbing to me. Does that make me less of a person? Didn't think so.

Hey, the murder of that monkey sucks. Totally sucks. Not in favour of it at all.

But put that shit on page 7 where it belongs, or page 1 of local news.

NOT ON PAGE 1 OF WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL NEWSPAPER WHEN A TRAGEDY IS IN PROGRESS THAT COULD END UP COSTING MORE HUMAN LIVES THAN THE BOXING DAY TSUNAMI OF 06, IE 200,000+

[Grapes]

I mean holy shit people.

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Grapes

Hey, the murder of that monkey sucks. Totally sucks. Not in favour of it at all.

But put that shit on page 7 where it belongs, or page 1 of local news.

NOT ON PAGE 1 OF WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL NEWSPAPER WHEN A TRAGEDY IS IN PROGRESS THAT COULD END UP COSTING MORE HUMAN LIVES THAN THE BOXING DAY TSUNAMI OF 06, IE 200,000+

I actually read it on the cbc website in the local news section. I don't read the 24. Unless it's in my lunch room and I have nothing else to read.

[Grapes]

When I said "supposed to be a professional newspaper" did you for one second think I meant 24?

Any rag that often covers its front page with an advertisement isn't going to get within a country mile of professional journalism.

Most of my ire is meant for The Vancouver Sun. I'd get mad at the Province for doing the same but.. what would be the point?..

[Erin]

Originally Posted by Grapes

When I said "supposed to be a professional newspaper" did you for one second think I meant 24?

Any rag that often covers its front page with an advertisement isn't going to get within a country mile of professional journalism.

Most of my ire is meant for The Vancouver Sun. I'd get mad at the Province for doing the same but.. what would be the point?..

Aha. No. I was still thinking about ebbos comment about the 24. I'm sorry. I'm actually working at work, talking to 2 friends and posting on here at the same time (I know, I'm a multi tasker!) :) Everything in this post was blending together.

And you're right, it shouldn't have been the front page story. On any paper.

[mapleleaf4ever]

Heard about this Typhoon first through the Company... we've got Aircraft and Personnel on a contract over there. Thankfully they're all alive, their accomodations were damaged though.

I really hope that the citizens of Burma actually get some help. Annoying to see that such shitty governments are still in existance.

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Grapes

Oh and on a related note:

At least 3 of Vancouver's daily rags could not find a place for the death of at least 50,000 burmese and potentially hundreds of thousands more on their front pages today.

A story about a murdered monkey made the front page of those same papers.

*clap*...... *clap* ..........

jocko is people too!!!

[wishbone]

RIP burmese

RIP jocko

note the order i put those in.

[AGROculture]

Swiftbeats I'm not to sure that a Canadian company owns a large mining company in Burma unless it's done somehow with overseas banking etc

The reason I think that is because like most western governments Canada has serious sanctions against the regimne therefore banning any investment in the country from Canadian companies. That's one of the reasons Burma is so poor, the sanctions hurt big time, but of course must be done so we don't support the junta.

Revolver

Thanks! =)
AGROjazz | Dave Jackson | Travel Blog
I wrote a long one about Burma in there, from last year.

[miss.myra]

let's take a moment to stop focusing on tragedy to start getting uppity about the newspapers we choose to read.

all media is biased. period. some of them just have better crosswords than others.

ps - agro, i dig the blog = )

[SWIFTBEATS]

Originally Posted by AGROculture

Swiftbeats I'm not to sure that a Canadian company owns a large mining company in Burma unless it's done somehow with overseas banking etc

The reason I think that is because like most western governments Canada has serious sanctions against the regimne therefore banning any investment in the country from Canadian companies. That's one of the reasons Burma is so poor, the sanctions hurt big time, but of course must be done so we don't support the junta.
.

Unfortunatly, these sanctions only began in december and only after the crazyness that unfolded with the monks late last year. The fact that it takes that kind of pressure to do what's right doesnt exactly make me feel easy.

"It is in this environment of paranoia and bureaucratic instability that legendary Vancouver mining financier and Ivanhoe Mining Ltd. executive director Robert Friedland has thrived and prospered in Burma since the early 1990s. Friedland's Ivanhoe umbrella of companies is credited with bringing to production the US $90 million Monywa copper mine in 1999, by far the largest mining investment by a foreign company in Burmese history -- and a cash cow for the government which retains a 50 per cent interest in the joint venture.
Today Ivanhoe Minerals Ltd. is one of a dwindling group of B.C.-based resource companies connected to the Burmese military government. But in the wake of the recent violent repression of protests in the country, Friedland surprised many last week by not only denying his Ivanhoe Mining Ltd. was still connected to Burma, but by denouncing his former military business partners."


But really Burma is just the tip of the iceburg. The poorest countries in the world could feed their people if they weren't having to pay off debt the north imposed on them. Sub-Saharan Africa pays $10 billion every year in debt service, which is 4 times more then they are able to spend on health care and education. It's the new imperialism.


a good read for those who might not know much about 3rd world debt and how it was accumulated-
The Third World Debt: The Comforts of Newspaper Pie

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by SWIFTBEATS

Unfortunatly, these sanctions only began in december and only after the crazyness that unfolded with the monks late last year. The fact that it takes that kind of pressure to do what's right doesnt exactly make me feel easy.

"It is in this environment of paranoia and bureaucratic instability that legendary Vancouver mining financier and Ivanhoe Mining Ltd. executive director Robert Friedland has thrived and prospered in Burma since the early 1990s. Friedland's Ivanhoe umbrella of companies is credited with bringing to production the US $90 million Monywa copper mine in 1999, by far the largest mining investment by a foreign company in Burmese history -- and a cash cow for the government which retains a 50 per cent interest in the joint venture.
Today Ivanhoe Minerals Ltd. is one of a dwindling group of B.C.-based resource companies connected to the Burmese military government. But in the wake of the recent violent repression of protests in the country, Friedland surprised many last week by not only denying his Ivanhoe Mining Ltd. was still connected to Burma, but by denouncing his former military business partners."


But really Burma is just the tip of the iceburg. The poorest countries in the world could feed their people if they weren't having to pay off debt the north imposed on them. Sub-Saharan Africa pays $10 billion every year in debt service, which is 4 times more then they are able to spend on health care and education. It's the new imperialism.


a good read for those who might not know much about 3rd world debt and how it was accumulated-
The Third World Debt: The Comforts of Newspaper Pie

if they didn't want all that debt maybe they shouldn't have bought all those weapons to use against their own people from us.

also the data used in that article is about 17 years old, theres been quite a significant reduction in global poverty, inequality and third world debt since then.