Invisibility for Muggles, Military or Trekkies?

As a means of science fiction war, Klingons and Romulans used cloaking devices for their space ships while a rare invisibility cloak was a priceless heirloom given from Death to Harry Potter. Real life scientists at UC Berkley have found a way, ok finally proved it, to bend light in the opposite direction to make objects disappear. Metamaterial culled from a manmade composite coalition of silver and magnesium flouride makes light bend rendering an optical illusion of redirecting light past three dimensional objects, making invisibility possible for the first time. Kinda really cool. Imagine future school kids coming to class with just their legs showing or saying they were not late, just temporarily invisible. It would be an interesting, albeit short lived, prank.

It is more likely the Harry Potter version of scarce and rare will be the order of the day. Beaming people in a quantum fashion was ordinary technology, making Invisibility ubiquitous in all of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek franchises. Nanotechnology seems brilliantly positioned to take massive advantage of these new metamaterials that have to be tinier than a wavelength or a slice of a split end of human hair. The math in the negative refractive index is key to making the light bend backward or not follow the right-hand rule.

"Of course cloaking captures everybody's attention, but these papers aren't [just] about cloaking," said Xiang Zhang, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and head of the research teams publishing related papers in two different journals this week.

"[The studies] are about the ability to engineer these material properties that never exist in nature. With that ability one can do many things, and cloaking is only one of them."

Such materials could also boost the power of microchips and antennas and allow the creation of "superlenses" that could image objects smaller than the wavelength of light, the study authors report.

This is a wow week for physicists and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is about to go on line experimenting on the God Particle theory while US physicists and the National Science Foundation are looking at next generation uses for metamaterials for microscopic scales as new variations are developed that get a bit more obvious to the eye. This latest discovery also fires the imagination of science fiction writers who have a measure of detail that lends credibility to the science developed in the 1940's.

The NSF helped support research into both metamaterials. Additionally, the U.S. Army Research Office helped support the work reported in Nature, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research helped fund the project described in Science. (5 year old CNN story/ photo)

The applications of larger scale invisibility are immense from Orwellian tragic usage for government or rich Peeping Toms to a means to give advantages to military or black ops in intelligence services or law enforcement. Stealth technology taken to new heights, depths, widths we won't know about because ramifications won't be seen until its far too late. There are no rules of law that encompass the scope as science outpaces shades of gray legalisms.

John Edwards, no not THAT one, the technology reporter writes The Geeks of War outlining the possible and probable uses of new applications of science. Some bland and innocuous others not so much.

Or in a master's hand, Michio Kaku, brings the possibilities in Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific exploration into the World of Phaser Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel. Just love this.

Obama States A Truth, Media & RivalsTwist It

A smear perpetuated by a tone deaf mainstream media and amplified by over eager rival presidential candidates, exemplifies all that is vapid and vainglorious about the American political system. Hillary Clinton, once again aligns herself with an aged John McCain to bear false witness against the meaning, tone, and context of what ails those who are among the least of these clinging to a way of life dismissed by the long term Elites of this country. Bitterness is a byproduct of a loss of opportunity at the hands of corporations enabled by Clinton, Bush and mcCain policies to feed at the trough of US treasury first and foremost while individuals are moved to the scraps line and treated with derision.

But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there's not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Barack Obama, the son of a goat herder turned PhD, fights back with words and deeds against the cynicism of a vain Lou Dobbs, a desperate Hillary and a relic trying to recapture a bygone era, McCain. CNN's inability to get to the truth of anything is suspect. Even marshmallows can keep secrets from a media that prides itself on surface and shallow issues. Barack takes them all to task:

Let Barack's Words continue Forth to a new Generation that prizes nuance, depth and quests for Truth beyond those immediately seen by the less endowed among us.

Barack Obama A Win & A Speech For The Ages

The young, the old, the unions, the independents, the moderates, the liberals, women and grumpy old men came together to give Barack Obama a blowout win in Iowa. He did it with the help of an stellar organization that shall undergo serious scrutiny for those that want to run in the future it is so impressive. Over 226,000 thousand Iowans turned out to have their say - we want this man to lead us back from the divisive wilderness of American politics, together.

A victory speech like no other was made by Barack Obama involving a soaring scope of oratory reserved for preaching about Heaven. It was a feast of a speech which while magnificent pointed to the best that America had to offer the world again, not the Darkness that consumed the country for the last 7 years.

That he is of mixed race, with a name that is unusual, has lived in Indonesia and suffered the torments of any young person is a story he told with an amazing elan over 13 years ago in writing. Now he communicates it in rising rhetoric that shall last the length of history and inspire those with the ability to hear as well.

Can Mars Take a Punch?

Hurtling through space, with a few megatons of potential force behind its first punch, is an asteroid aiming to clean the Red Planet's dusty clock. Earth got lucky as it was a swing and a miss from the asteroid named 2007 WD5 , putting it squarely on its path straight towards Mars. The odds are being calculated by NASA's near miss enthusiasts in Pasadena, CA, at the Near Earth Object (NEO) program on everything from the amount of power from scenarios of when/if the asteroid collides with Mars (1 in 75 chance) to time of impact. Scientists are observing with quirky sighs of relief as they map trajectory possibilities of the 160 foot wide space pebble with a lot less skin in the game now. But those same scientists (self styled as the Solar System Defense Team) would be ecstatic to view a collision on Mars on 30 January, 2008, refining all types of prior guesstimates. The oddsmakers aren't feeling too good about Mars chances. (photo NASA/JPL)

"Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between the Earth and Mars and closing the distance at a speed of about 27,900 miles per hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL. "Over the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory."

If the asteroid does indeed strike Mars, it will impact somewhere in an 800 kilometer (500 mile) wide band that crosses the Martian equator. The southernmost boundary of this band lies slightly to the north of the region explored by the rover Opportunity. Though close, however, the rover is clearly outside the zone of possible impact.

"We estimate such impacts occur on Mars every thousand years or so," said Steve Chesley, a scientist at JPL. "If 2007 WD5 were to thump Mars on Jan. 30, we calculate it would hit at about 50,000 kilometers per hour (30,000 miles per hour) and might create a crater more than half-a-mile wide."

Earth has seen a rare fireball of an asteroid's atmospheric aftereffects in 1908 Siberia, wiping out a forest with no crater. A scientific jury is hung on whether the same phenomenon was present in Peru earlier in September this year because that smashland left a massive crater as previously blogged. About 65,000,000 years ago, an impact so devastating occurred on Earth extinguishing life as it was then known by dinosaurs. Its known as the Chicxulub impact with an estimation of having been 200 times greater than 2007 WD5's collision force with Mars. Now what astronomer or sky watcher wouldn't want to that in slowmo and loop the replay.

Today's telescopes would yield valuable data and downright spectacular views even from a smaller collision on Mar's equator. Right now they are of no use, as the asteroid is unseeable on the other side of the moon for the next two weeks, but moving inexorably towards Mars. Sitting ringside, would be the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that will be able to see the effect up close and personal should the asteroid "land". The Mars Rovers are in the nosebleed cheap seats, but barring the notorious Martian weather and wind, may be able to phone home pictures. They should get T-Shirts - "Witnessed 2007 WD5 land the 1st Punch" - Rover Opportunity 2008!

Space rubble blown about or apart may become asteroids or may be seen as meteorites falling from the atmospheric heavens to Earth. Chock full of photos, details, tidbits and space history is the book of meteor seekers everywhere, Rocks from Space: Meteorites and Meteor Hunters from O. Richard Norton & Dorothy S. Norton. It is on a second revision in hardback, a testament to its popularity.

Toilet Paper Hostage for Votes in Venezuela

When withholding the toilet paper is a campaign tactic, it is pretty clear the politics is floating around in the cesspool. Venezuela is a hotbed of intrigue as Hugo Chavez tries to garner more power and students are in open opposition marching in the streets. Everybody has to go to the bathroom, so the Venezuelan government holding the TP hostage is backing up everything. It's the new way of winning an election, vote for the Chavez government and then you get toilet paper - in more ways than one.

Venezuelans have been buying large amounts of toilet paper on rumours it could be the next hard-to-find thing amid shortages of products like milk and meat that businesses attribute to price controls but the government blames on high demand and hoarding.

"We know there are sectors that are hiding toilet paper," Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas told state television on Friday. "A group of business leaders are playing mean, playing dirty ... of course trying to create the sensation of product shortage during the elections."

Markets have a diminished amount of toilet paper and what's left is being hoarded. Hugo Chavez is not running away with the election and the margin of victory may just be as thin as toilet tissue. His extraconstitutional measures and economic manipulations are showing signs of constipation which relieves his immediate need for the scare toilet paper. Chavez's supporters, in and out of Venezuela's National Assembly, are out in numbers as well praising his reform package.(photo courtesy AP/Howard Yanes)

Mr Chavez proposed 33 changes, and the National Assembly, which is composed of his supporters, put forward a further 36 amendments.

Mr Chavez has said he is prepared to serve for life as long as the people want it. Under the current constitution, he would have to stand down when his term expires at the end of 2012.

Other changes up for approval include giving the president control over the central bank, the creation of new provinces governed by centrally-appointed officials, and a reduction in the voting age from 18 to 16.

There are also proposals to expand presidential powers during natural disasters or political "emergencies".

Hugo Chavez and Pervez Musharraf keep tee peeing the organizing principles and tenants of Democracy. Like Bush, Chavez even says your either with us with a Yes vote or against us with a No vote. Wipe, er vote, carefully in Venezuela.


Eco-friendly architect and author Sim Van Der Ryn describes the trials and travails of bathroom paper products in The Toilet Papers: Recycling Waste and Conserving Water. It is becoming an even more important topic in Venezuela before the 2 December, 2007 vote.

Book Cover Made of Human Skin

Even if its 400 years old, looks parched and feels smooth the very thought of touching a book made from human skin, let alone bidding on it at auction, just creeps me out. The fact that it is the skin of Father Henry Garnet, an imprisoned Jesuit priest, that suffered the punishment of a hangman's noose execution, adds to the macabre mystique for the the serious collector of these things. It's a unique, um pardon the meaty pun, rare artifact for the serious hardcore bibliophile with a cast iron stomach and plenty of cash to cede as the highest bidder.

In the early 1600's england was a hotbed of royal intrigues. Since time immemorial, desperate humans have sought various and sundry ways to kill people who were obstructing their aims for good or ill. Catholic King James I was the target of murder plots and the Jesuit stood accused of being part of the "Gunpowder Plot" to kill the king and blow up parliament. There is controversy amongst scholars as to the validity of the evidence against him. But suffice it to say somebody was still pissed off enough to use a good portion of his skin as the book covering for the long-winded title, A True and Perfect Relation of the Whole Proceedings Against the Late Most Barbarous Traitors, Garnet, a Jesuit and his Confederates.

It is anyone's guess how much the book, which was made in London in 1606 by Robert Barker, the king's printer, just months after Garnet's execution, will fetch when it goes under the hammer at Wilkinson's Auctioneers in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

Sid Wilkinson, the auctioneer, said: "Because the subject matter is so strange, we thought putting an estimate on it might be a bit vulgar.

"It could make £1,000, it could make hundreds, we just don't know."

He said the book is so rare Wilkinson's had never auctioned one before, but added that making books out of convicts' skin was not an entirely unusual practice.

There are spooky and eerie claims from an eager auctioneer that the face of the presumably Good father can be seen in the cover of the book. Just the thing one wants staring at them on a dark and stormy night when the lights flicker out and the floorboards creak of their own accord.

Nina G. Jablonski details the pigments and history of human coverings in Skin: A Natural History. It was terribly fitting...

Wall of Water Set to Flood English & Dutch Coasts

A wall of water, one-story high, is on schedule to crash into, then flood England's low lying coastal areas Friday morning. The Norfolk coast with East Anglia, Dover and North Kent began evacuations with Suffolk to follow. Gale force winds across Denmark and Norway push the North Sea creating a monster tidal surge worthy of Poseidon. Across the Scottish highlands, hurricane winds in excess of 100 mph are blowing with enough force to compress the sea towards England. Panic is starting to set in and Hilary Benn, the British minister is trying to calm fears as Prime Minister Gordon Brown chaired an emergency Cobra meeting. In May, during historic torrential rains, much of the English countryside and parts of London went underwater for an extended period stretching emergency flood response and resources.

The Environment Agency predicts the highest water levels will hit Immingham, near Grimsby, at around 0430 GMT on Friday and the East Anglian coast along the Broads, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft between 0700 and 0800.

Mr Benn said Environment Agency staff were patrolling in Norfolk and Suffolk, offering advice.

He said: "If you are advised to evacuate please follow those instructions, there are rest centres that are being set up.

"And it's really important, keep away from the sea because as well as the storm surge there will also be waves and this is dangerous and people need to keep away from it."

The Dutch coast is also bracing for its share of the deluge with the Rotterdam harbor taking the extraordinary measure of closing for the first time since it was built during the 1990's. UK municipal efforts include closing the Dartford Creek and Thames' barriers in advance. Their are a total of 8 severe flood warnings with 10 flood warning and 24 flood watches in effect. The next 48 hours are critical for North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and the north Kent coast, Great Yarmouth to Shingle Street village with more warnings and updates to come.

Three meters or ten feet of water arriving all at once is an awesome force. Water unharnessed is one of the most destructive forces on the planet. The 2004 Tsunami killed over 250,000 people reinforcing the point about the power of water. With high tide set for daytime tomorrow, the threat will start to dissipate. But the next 48 hours are critical.



Coming 13 Novemeber, 2007 is Extreme Weather: Understanding the Science of Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Floods, Heatwaves, Snow Storms, Global Warming and Other Atmospheric Disturbances from author H. Michael Mogil.

From Deep Space Fifth Planet Discovered

Seeing what no one has seen before, a surprise fifth planet revealed itself to scientists in California. The shock of a massive planet orbiting a sun star, mirroring our solar system patterns, creates more plausibility that life could exist elsewhere in Deep Space. More mature and a mite duller, 55 Cancri is the only other known galactic phenom other than our Milky Way to have 5 acolyte planets in a recognizable orbit. Best guess right now is the planet would be most akin to Saturn with mostly rocks at the center and gas as its main attribute.

"In fact, it's a little hard to imagine that there's just nothing there in this big gap. So the suggestion is there might be small rocky planets, like Venus, Mars or Earth."

Of course, none of these planets can actually be seen - the astronomers use tiny wobbles in the movement of the star to detect the presence of planets tugging on the star as they encircle it.

But you can see the star itself - 55 Cancri - easily, with only a pair of binoculars, at the right time of year and with a clear night sky.

Lick Observatory's astronomers operating the Shane Telescope spotted the mass 41 light years away from the Cancer constellation. The planet's orbit is pegged at about 260 days for one trip around around its star and is about 4 times the size of Earth. NASA announced the findings.



The power of telescopes are invaluable to astronomers and those who searched the heavens for the extraordinary throughout history. The Telescope: It's History, Technology and Future by Geoff Andersen gives a robust look at telescopes of all strengths.

Seasons & Energy Drinks Spike Blood Pressure

Controlling a silent stealth killer is a battle many wage everyday inside their own bodies. One out of three Americans has high blood pressure and a third of those have no idea hypertension is a part of their lives. Scientists and doctors are marveling at the changes a season make on the battle to lower blood pressure. It didn't matter if the patients studied were in frisky Anchorage, Alaska or the sultriness of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Blood Pressure seems easier to control during summer seasons according to a recently released 5 year study. Sodium intake in the winter and more exercise in warmer weather are potential explanations that require further study.

The study, reported to the American Heart Association, suggests a more active summer lifestyle may be the key.

Lead researcher Dr Ross Fletcher said: "People gain weight in the winter and lose weight in the summer. People tend to exercise more in the summer and less in the winter."

The researchers said it was also possible that people might eat more salty foods in winter. Salt is strongly linked to raised blood pressure.

Doctors advise paying more attention to this in winter months. Hypertension is a worldwide healthcare issue. It is asymptomatic or without symptoms until its ravages lead to major crises or death from heart disease, stroke or kidney failure. Race and gender play a role, with US African Americans being the most high risk group with the least amount of control of blood pressure.

One of the new hip things is drinking those omnipresent energy drinks teeming with jumbo caffeine kickers. Young people who mix the energy boosters with alcohol are taking grave risks with promoting bad behavior, injuries and lapses in judgment regarding sex. Two cans of a particular drink raised heart rate and blood pressure within four hours. Drink one of those energy concoctions during the cold wintry season and it's a potential double jolt whammy on the blood pressure. Those hyper drinks are now being proved to drive up blood pressure.

"We saw increases in both blood pressure and heart rate in healthy volunteers who were just sitting in a chair watching movies. They weren't exercising. They were in a resting state," James Kalus of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, who led the study, said in an interview.

But the increases potentially could be significant in people with cardiovascular disease or those taking drugs to lower heart rate or blood pressure, they told a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.

"While the amount of caffeine in energy drinks or coffee may cause a slight and temporary increase in blood pressure, it would have no greater effect than walking up a flight of steps," the American Beverage Association industry trade group said in a statement responding to the findings.

"So singling out energy drinks in a unique manner, particularly when compared to a more commonly consumed caffeinated beverage like coffee, does not provide a full and proper context for consumers." (photo Kristian Dowling)

Um, that's right the people who market energy drinks say what they believe the negligible effect is while draping themselves in victimhood because energy drinks were singled out for study. Great to know they economically weighed the costs first, have consumers health foremost in mind, rather than their Gucci pocketbooks.


An anecdotal book on natural ways to reduce high blood pressure is Robert Kowalski's The Blood Pressure Cure: 8 Ways to Reduce Blood Pressure Without Prescription Drugs. He gives his story after his heart attack at the age of 38. His book was released in 2007.

(See Mom, an actual post on something healthy...)

The War On Words on Writers

From 4 pennies to 8 pennies per CD/DVD is just too big of an increase for producers and giant corporate media moguls to bear to part with for mere writers. They moan it would eat into their thin margins as they wage vicious see and be seen ratings wars, ongoing battles of which bloated scripts to be put in executive rehab and it unilaterally disarms the rich by giving a pittance to poor WGA writers. Thy writer may have a few other jobs to keep their health care and food on the table. This will not be the reality TV show America gets to see during the newest Dark Laptop Ages of the Writer's strike. Instead, US television drivel will come from the untested mind of some milquetoast MBA with an urge to prove that Fear Factor 13 is economically viable. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

All of the trappings of a union protest were there — signs, chanting workers, an inflatable rat, and a discarded bag of wrappers and cups from Dunkin Donuts. The rat was borrowed from Local 79, an AFL-CIO laborers’ union, and commuted in from Queens.

But instead of hard hats and work boots, the people on the pickets had arty glasses and fancy scarves.

“A lot of the public probably feels like we are brats,” said Sarah Durken, a writer for children’s programs. “We are not hospital workers and firefighters, we know that — the world is going to keep turning. But I think everyone understands that the issue of corporate greed versus the needs of workers and their families.” (30 Rock's writer Tina Fey/AP Photo)

Stay on a pre-paid script. Put a bunch of dysfunctional people together in awkward circumstances with a big shiny prize that will bring out the semi-cognizant and Behold, a 46 minute burning reality show paid for by corporate entities hawking pills, diapers and the next reality show born of dire doom. Note to television audience: those same dysfunctional people on the show are mirror images of those deciding to air the show. Whew, makes you really rush to get to the TV. A half billion dollars of losses during the last strike in 1988, was a mere rainy day piggy bank to some big shots while others watched financial and professional ruin advance at the speed of light with scripts withering in the dust bowl of boring entertainment. The War on Words is a spiffy acronym - every marketer will say, you need that to get the public's attention, so WOW is officially on, over a few pennies. Call me when they speak in terms of folding money...

Writers produced an incredible amount of original product before hitting the picket and bread lines. The immediate audience ouch comes from those who like the topical late night shows like fake news star John Stewart's The Daily Show and ex-presidential premature panderer Stephen Colbert, of The Colbert Report. There is no one left to write his campaign speeches. Whoa, is business going to be better with YouTube since the content of the reality shows have a few decency limits. YouTube can sink to new depths of depravity with a bored audience or become the heights of drama capturing audience share never to return to TV again with web sensation classics like Obama Girl, Britney Spears howling Public Defender or the shocked squirrel.

Let the Word go Forth to media producers and executives alike - Writers own the Words and you need those to make the entertainment industry actually work. It's not rocket science, its the writing, stupid.


Steven Colbert has a satirical genius book out to keep us amused and suitably entertained, I Am America: And So Can You. John Stewart is a New York Times Bestselling author of The Daily Show with John Stewart Presents America: A Citizen's Guide to democracy Inaction - that word thing again in the ironic hands of awesome crafters.

Pakistan Coup E II, Quotes Honest Abe

What do you do if you are the president and the Supreme Court is in danger of nullifying your victory dance because of the narrowest of victories? In the twenty-first century, both presidents faced with this outcome declared a mandate, were snippy with their known rival and initiated extra-Constitutional privileges. Pakistan's President by self-acclimation - again. Pervez Musharraf, is taking no risks to his authority by declaring his Supreme Court on vacation. He is taking total control under a martial law scenario - again. Musharraf is going with what worked before because there is no need to reinvent the wheels of democracy when they spin against him. Musharraf suspended the Supreme Court before they could rule against him, further weakening his already tenuous hold on power resulting from a coup against Bhutto. People are taking to the streets throughout Pakistan in protest and defiance along with Jamaat-i-Islami, a Pakistani opposition party in Manga Mandi. (Photo courtesy Warrick Page)

Democracy is on life support in Pakistan as phone lines are cut, stations taken off the air, arrests of activists and dissidents made and Musharraf ignores the rule of law. US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, is frantically exploring options to freeze or retract financial aid. That'll really show that upstart nuclear power, not. Benazir Bhutto, a former political refugee, returned from exile to one of the worst welcomes, suicide bombers killing 160 people lined up to see her. She is critical of this undemocratic action and plans to challenge (er, planned) Musharraf's power in the 2008 election. The other famous exile, Nawaz Sharif, was promptly arrested, humiliated and publicly deported back to his safe haven in Saudi Arabia when the former PM tried a brazen return. The US badly needs a friendly ally in a moderate Pakistan. It is quite the diplomatic embarrassment to have Musharraf cite a nineteenth century American president as part of his tortured rationale.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said at a news conference today that new parliamentary elections, which had been expected in January, could be “up to a year” away. He said up to 500 opposition activists had been arrested nationwide.

Musharraf announced the emergency decree, under which the Constitution was suspended and most of the Supreme Court was dismissed, on state-run television just after midnight. In a 45-minute speech, the president said he had declared the emergency to limit terrorist attacks and “preserve the democratic transition that I initiated eight years back.” He did not say how long the state of emergency would be maintained.

The general, dressed in civilian clothes, quoted Abraham Lincoln, citing his suspension of some rights during the American Civil War as justification for the state of emergency in Pakistan. (emphasis mine)

In the off key musical chairs of Pakistan's leaders, it is now clear coup maestro Musharraf is violating the basic rules by staying seated in the only power seat. In an Orwellian masterstroke, Musharraf commands the airwaves. The BBC and CNN have had their plugs pulled. Defense lawyers and other human rights leaders find themselves behind bars unable to render aid to protesters. An ignorant populace is an easily led undefended populace from Quetta to Lahore to Islamabad.

The book, Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons explains exactly what is at stake for Americans and the world in this latest derailment of democracy in Pakistan by Musharraf. The brilliant inside look is authored by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark and released two weeks ago. A must read.

Buddhist Monks on the March - Again

Nobody can call Burma's monks cowards. After a bloody massacre, untold missing and junta crackdown with countless arrests, monks take to the streets of central Burma again in defiance. Admittedly not in throngs of thousands, but 1oo brave monks protested. Their timing is exquisite and painful to the military strong man as the UN's liaison, Ibrahim Gambari, returns to ascertain progress by Saturday. The totalitarian government of Myanmar suffered an international rebuke from the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including their patron, China. Now the draft is in Burma with boy soldiers filling the ranks of the military.

To make sure that the junta got the message, the rang up a radio station to make sure their deed did not go unnoticed. Media savvy monks against the heavy-handed armed militia of a strongman is causing angst in international circles. A junta demanded large crowd cheering photo-op, staged by the government, was the catalyst to bring about further public dissension from the monks in Pakakou, the same place where it all began before. The economic crisis brought about by the governments ham-fisted mismanagement remains central to the resolution with inflated fuel costs continuing to rise.

Britain's ambassador to Burma, Mark Canning, said yesterday: "It's not a great surprise they have come back on to the streets because the underlying political and economic forces driving this have not gone away. The economic and political frustration that is within the population will manifest itself again in the coming months, but how and to what scale is unclear."

The protests came hours after the Burmese junta released seven members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, who had been held for more than a month in Rangoon's notorious Insein jail.

Japan, deeply wounded by the killing on television of an unarmed journalist, has reflected upon its economic ties to the harsh Myanmar government they support. The government was able to keep India, China and Japan fairly removed before the monks protests became a global story. Burma is in crisis and external forces have investments they still want returns from that would be difficult to obtain if the government became democratized. The continued detainment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Sang Suu Kyi remains contentious as the jaded junta leader, General Than Shwe, is being soundly beaten at the PR game by a tiny fragile women kept locked away in her house.

The UN Secretary-General is demanding substantive progress as his Special Envoy completes a tour of Burma's powerful Asian neighbors. As a show of responsiveness the junta is releasing handfuls of recently arrested political prisoners in drips and drabs from a hellish confinement to show the level of seriousness he's taking the UN. Monasteries have been shuttered and closed off from the public. New aggravations are the alleged abductions of children to swell the ranks of the military with the added benefit of keeping the thousands of worried parents under control. Than Shwe, tinpot dictator, is in no danger of being held in the high esteem as his country's most famous residents, the marching monks and Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi.

One of the most famous films ever about Burma is the building of the Burma-Siam rail section by US and other prisoners of war. The 1957 famed film is Bridge on the Kwai starring William Holden and Alec Guinness.