information shutdown in burma
I’m not going to pretend to understand all of the dynamics going on in Myanmar formerly known as burma. So far I know the government decided to double gas prices causing the monks to unite and protest. The last time there was a major protest in 1988, lead mainly by university students, it was harshly shut down by the military. I can imagine the monks present a different problem to say the least.
So, why is this story interesting? Well, Myanmar has shut down the information flow going into and out of the country. No internet, phones, cameras, etc. WTF? How is limiting information flow going to solve their problem? The news is getting out via concealed cell phones….
Again….I’m no expert here, but I find the story interesting in that you can’t brush this problem under the rug. We barely knew this happened in ‘88, but now everyone knows about it in ‘07.
Josh k
PS I also hear if you get caught using a satellite phone you get 7 years in prison.
September 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am
The situation in Mayanmar is simply that the country is run by a heavy-handed military junta. There have been many uprisings in the past against the army and they’ve all been put down brutally with undisclosed numbers killed. Via technology we have the ability to find out what’s going on much quicker. There’s a link here to a video of a Japanese journalist being mercilessly murdered by Myanmar troops. It’s not for the queasy. This unessecary death has sparked major international outrage…..
October 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
Free Burma!
International Bloggers’ Day for Burma on the 4th of October
International bloggers are preparing an action to support the peaceful revolution in Burma. We want to set a sign for freedom and show our sympathy for these people who are fighting their cruel regime without weapons. These Bloggers are planning to refrain from posting to their blogs on October 4 and just put up one Banner then, underlined with the words „Free Burma!“.
http://www.free-bumar.org