If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
Aung San Suu Kyi, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, shows how one's faith and secular values can provide a much-needed moral compass for fighting social injustice in our world. Her latest move toward reconciliation is a realization of the opportunity to unshackle Burma.
Although the government of Myanmar has given the world a glimpse of their openness to democracy, Phan hopes that their desire to save face within the international community will lead to substantive and not merely cosmetic reform.
Peter Popham, the author of The Lady and the Peacock, a spellbinding biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, has great timing.
Thanks to a marvelously full-bodied performance by Michelle Yeoh and a complementary one by David Thewlis, The Lady overcomes its own obstacles -- principally ones of pacing -- to present a moving portrait of courage, resilience and conviction.
This month, an exceptional film about Suu Kyi and her struggles, directed by Luc Besson and titled The Lady comes to U.S. screens. It is a film that reminded me why I love cinema.
After winning a landslide victory in April 1 by-elections in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) will face the hard yards of politicking in a parliament dominated by the same military and its allies that the NLD trounced in Sunday's vote.
President Obama and Speaker Boehner understood the parameters of a solution and came remarkably close to a deal. The solutions are not difficult to imagine, just the willingness of our leaders to embrace them, and their followers to follow.
"I had a really bad weekend," Burma says. "Or a really good one," says the shrink. "The first reasonably free-and-fair election since 1990?"
It seemed that state violence as a vehicle for change was back in fashion. But did either of these conflicts produce clear-cut positive results? Hardly. Far more hopeful have been the recent stories out of Myanmar and the Arab world.
Just over a decade ago Lonely Planet was being accused of supporting Burma's corrupt military regime for publishing a guidebook to the country. Boy, have times changed.
Before we turn the page, it is important to see past Aung San Suu Kyi as a symbol of moral courage to evaluate the substance of her positions -- and by extension, U.S. policy -- the past two decades.
In U2's retelling, restoration comes through both humanitarian efforts and divine intervention. The promise and hope of both is that all will "live in safety."
Most of Myanmar's 135 ethnic groups don't want democracy -- they want freedom. Democracy simply locks in a status quo that has repeatedly led to genocide in this jungle nation, at their expense.
Once again, a global record was shattered in Burma. This time, it wasn't for the world's longest-running civil conflict, or the jailing of dissidents. Instead, it broke the record for the largest number of attendees at a BarCamp, a user-generated technology conference.
The U.S. and other nations must apply diplomatic pressure to ensure that Myanmar provides healthcare, education, sanitation, and other social services for all its civilians, equally -- regardless of ethnicity.
Mitt Romney has it all twisted. Should I be pro-choice or pro-life? Consult the polls. Am I a moderate or conservative? Whet my finger to the wind. Winning is the cause; convictions are the means, so change the means by all means. He bows to the great God of this age, "Me."
