(no subject)
Of all the news stories at the moment I'm finding myself completely caught up in the protests in Burma.
Every time I listen to the news or click on the BBC website I can feel my stomach clench as I wait for this time to be the time that we hear the Junta have decide to crack down on the protesters. I hope and pray that they won't but it seems always just around the corner.
There's a section on the BBC website of comments from inside Burma which is interesting, it sounds as if there are a lot of people holding their breath there too. They want change but they don't want a civil war. Understandably.
It's hard to know if this is a turning point or not.
One minor thing that's fascinating me about the news story is the way that anywhere comments are allowed someone will pipe up with "why don't we call it Myanmar, stop being so colonial and give the country its proper name" which is stupid because it's clearly people trying to look clever and sensitive and yet if you read about Burma it becomes clear that the people there still use Burma as the name of choice and Myanmar is a name that has been forced on them. In fact I believe Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma, has said that the international community should still say Burma. I think, and usually I hate, loath and despise this phrase, I think this is probably a real example of "political correctness gone mad" just because it was the name during colonial times doesn't mean it isn't still the correct name.
Every time I listen to the news or click on the BBC website I can feel my stomach clench as I wait for this time to be the time that we hear the Junta have decide to crack down on the protesters. I hope and pray that they won't but it seems always just around the corner.
There's a section on the BBC website of comments from inside Burma which is interesting, it sounds as if there are a lot of people holding their breath there too. They want change but they don't want a civil war. Understandably.
It's hard to know if this is a turning point or not.
One minor thing that's fascinating me about the news story is the way that anywhere comments are allowed someone will pipe up with "why don't we call it Myanmar, stop being so colonial and give the country its proper name" which is stupid because it's clearly people trying to look clever and sensitive and yet if you read about Burma it becomes clear that the people there still use Burma as the name of choice and Myanmar is a name that has been forced on them. In fact I believe Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma, has said that the international community should still say Burma. I think, and usually I hate, loath and despise this phrase, I think this is probably a real example of "political correctness gone mad" just because it was the name during colonial times doesn't mean it isn't still the correct name.