Goldfinger

It wasn't that long ago when Katrin came over for dinner, in early summer. We found it quite amusing when she observed, with a knowing nod, "Ah you don't have a TV ... you must have a very good relationship!"

So what did we do? In the spirit of high adventure (and believe me, for a household of two historians, that's saying a lot), we trotted out and got ourselves a tiny telly.

Since then, most evenings have inadvertently transformed into 'sofa events', with Ste having mastered the one-eye-on-screen, one-eye-on-newspaper routine. I harbour no such delusions about the limits of my own multi-tasking capacity and am a dedicated both-eyes-on-screen fan of Silent Witness, a sort of CSI series (not that I've ever watched CSI) about pathologists cracking murder cases with their creative interpretations of the charred/severed/often decomposing subjects. The sort of career I might have wanted if the sight of real blood and chunky vomit didn't make me faint.

Anyway, the point is I don't think this change in our lifestyle is necessarily bad. It's not like our minds switch off during those 2-3 hours of programming every night, certainly not! Take last evening, for example, when I made a most earth-shaking discovery during a commercial break:

I prodded the cuticles on my left hand and surveyed my skinny fingers. Should I go to the kitchen for a glass of apple juice, pop into the loo, or just wait this out? Suddenly, a 'wow' moment hit: hang on a minute, now check this out ... I have lean fingers ... and small nostrils. (Alicia fits lean finger into small nostril for verification). Then I turned to Ste who was seemingly engrossed in his combination act (newspaper-telly) on the opposite end of the sofa, but secretly curious about my unconcealed excitement. I was ready to take my theory to the next level.

Ste has thicker fingers and significantly larger nostrils than I do. I raised his left hand and when [his] index digit met [his] orifice, barring the expression of mild horror (or was it shock ...) on his face, it was another perfect fit, gorrrdarnit! We are born efficient gold-diggers! So to speak. No fat fingers getting stuck in button-noses ... or worse, scrawny ones clawing endlessly through cavernous nostrils.

Ste was far less impressed by the revelation, but by then the adverts were over and my moment of brilliance retreated, embarrassed, into the wings.

On Burma, a joint statement by Karenni grassroots organisations

01 October 2007

A Joint Statement of Civic Grassroots Organizations of the Karenni (Kayah) State on the Protests of the Monks and People inside Burma

We, the civic grassroots organizations of Karenni (Kayah) State, express our strongest support for solidarity and unity with the movement of revered monks, students and fellow citizens of Burma and their peaceful expression of and protests over the hardships and myriad of problems in Burma. Decades of mismanagement of the country's economy by the military rulers caused Burma to be designated by the United Nations as among the poorest nations in the world, while Burmese people suffer oppression and egregious human rights violations under the military dictatorship.

The military regime has persistently suppressed revered monks, students and civilians alike, who peacefully demand an end to military dictatorship and emergence of a government democratically elected by the people, branding the latter as the enemies of the people. In the States of other ethnic nationalities, the military government has consistently committed arbitrary arrests and summary execution, killed innocent civilians, and burned their villages to deprive them of shelter.

Revered monks and civilians who have been staging peaceful protests since the past few weeks to demand the fall of fuel prices and a tripartite dialog are again suppressed brutally through the use of arms. Because of a handful of generals, intent on hanging onto power, the blood of innocent civilians and revered monks has been spilled. As long as the military dictators remain in power, Burma will continue to spiral into poverty and monastic communities and civilians will continue to suffer oppression and repression. Therefore, a change in Burma needs to be brought about as a matter of urgency and if not, the future generations of Burmese people will be destined to suffer the same fate as ours under a handful of generals.

Therefore, WE, the civic grassroots organizations of Karenni (Kayah) State would like to express our solidarity with, and admiration to, the courageous monks, students and fellow citizens of Burma who are putting their lives at risk to protest against the government to bring about change. We would, therefore, like to express our conviction in this Statement that the current movement of our revered monks and fellow citizens will lead us to the path toward a dialog that will truly foster national reconciliation and freedom from poverty, desired by the people of Burma.

On behalf of the People of Karenni (Kayah) State, WE further demand State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) that it:

1. Immediately end the violent suppression of the peaceful demonstrations and allow freedom of expression for the people of Burma;

2. Immediately and unconditionally release the monks and the people as well as the political prisoners who are arrested for exercising their freedom of expression;

3. Make commodity prices affordable to the vast majority of the people;

4. Find a political solution to the problems of Burma through a tripartite dialog as soon as possible;

5. Immediately stop all efforts and cease all the operations to dam Than Lwin (Salween) River.

Civic grassroots organizations of Karenni (Kayah) State are:

Karenni Social Welfare and Development Center (KSWDC)

Karenni Document Center (KDC)

Karenni National Women Organization (KNWO)

Karenni Student Union (KSU)

Karenni National Youth Organization (KNYO)

Karenni Ever Green (KEG)

Karenni Computer Education Institute (KCEI)

Karenni Mobile Medical Team (KMMT)

Karenni Religion, Culture Development Committee (KRCDC)

Kayan Women Union-Thailand (KyWU-T)

Contact Information

Moe Moe Aung

089 957 1867