And it’s a good thing too

Dawn from Myanmar is blogging again which is a really comforting thing to me. Yes, I said comforting. A guy I know questions whether it really matters or not about my concern for "these people" in distant places. By these people, he means the various individuals – not political figures - from around the world, that I sometimes mention in my blog. He said, “You don’t know these people personally and they don’t care who you are and they probably don’t even know you exist. It’s just a waste of time.”

Okay, I’ll admit it’s a fair criticism. But the thing is, I like hearing about other people’s lives and daily challenges. I like observing the exotic dimensions of their dreams and the arc of their aspirations. I like hearing about their victories and their defeats; about their happy days and their sad nights. I want to know about all the sweat, blood, laughter, and tears of their existence - all those things that make us human and that help to define us in this vast universe.

I know these people aren’t aware of my existence. They never will be. I mean I’m not mental or anything. I don’t have delusions. But like any exquisite work of art or piece of music, I like to observe and hear the colors, shades, and textures of other people’s lives. A painting or song isn’t aware that I exist either, but that doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of it. I still watch and I still listen.

Some people’s lives have an aesthetic value to me and I think it makes my life richer to know about them even if these people have no idea that I am here or that I ever existed. That’s my point – plain and simple.

- Just a peasant

Cover illustration art from an early Dragon magazine

Sweet, Sweet Hypocrisy

I really had to laugh at the news this morning. The United States Supreme Court refuses to hear the case of a person allegedly tortured by the CIA but who was, in fact, a case of mistaken identity. Remember, they didn’t catch a terrorist - it was the wrong guy. However, at the same time, Condoleezza Rice is meeting with a Russian human rights activist because the United States is SO concerned about human rights. HaHaHaHeeHeeHee!!

I know that we can’t stop governments from torturing people but when they screw up they could at least have the decency, if not courage, to make up for the mistake.


- Just a peasant

Photo in Abu Ghraib prison from antiwar.com – because the US is such a leader in human rights and dignity.

Dark House of Myanmar

In Myanmar, everything is still relatively dark. The government, like any husband that violently beats his wife and children, keeps the curtains closed so others cannot see its true nature; its own hideousness and hypocrisy. A dark house has dark secrets.

But we are jaded and our imaginations quickly fill in the gaps even as witnesses disappear. And now we know for sure, that beneath the beauty of Burma lies an incredible ugliness.

- Just a peasant

Photo of two towers Chedi Burma by Ken McColl at PBase