Does Blackwater's contract with DoD count as a Letter of Marque?
Scanning around the attached world map a bit, I was a little embarassed to be surprised at how much its changed since my canonical "world map" was formed in high school.
Where did Mayanmar come from and why wasn't I told?
Oh yeah, and Insty is a raving nutbar.
"I've enough money to hand to train, equip, and deploy six people for six months in the area between Baghdad and Kabul."
Whitey has never seen Midnight Express, right?
The rulers of the country decided 'Burma' was a relic of imperialism (which it probably is, but I don't know anything about firsthand).
Where did Mayanmar come from and why wasn't I told?
Military junta that no one else cares about. It's a pretty safe answer for most name changes in central Asia and Africa, too. Pity the neighbors of these countries.
3: They also moved the capital, and just let foreign journalists in last week or so.
just let foreign journalists in last week or so.
Seriously? Wow. That's a big deal, the government there is a bit crazy.
...though after reading the linked article, this doesn't actually seem to be a sign of greater openness.
I think every single piece of information from the link in 7 was completely and utterly new to me.
Humbling.
Finally, my subscription to The Week pays off!
the former dictator Ne Win, who had banknotes printed in absurd denominations because he insisted that they all be divisible by his lucky number, nine
In Chinese Burma has been called Miandian for a long time. Same rot as Myanmar.
It used to be said that Myanmar was in a Ne Win situation.
Military junta that no one else cares about.
12: I wonder if just making your denominations goofy is enough to deflate the currency down to the point where "9" is equivalent to "1," pre-reprinting.
Burmese is such a cool-looking language on the page.
"Naypyidaw... is the ultimate insurance against regime change, a masterpiece of urban planning designed to defeat any putative 'colour revolution' - not by tanks and water cannons, but by geometry and cartography."
I read that and pictured a city with ever-shifting streets and buildings, like some huge labyrinth. Which would actually be kind of cool, sans-junta.
Geez OFE, the Swedes don't count.
I love 12.
It's also depressing how often countries decide to build a new capital where there's been no development in the past. At least Myanmar did it to tighten their grip on the government apparatus, since that pesky port could actually be visited. Brazil had no such excuse. And what's up with Canberra?
Myanmar, says the junta
Burma, says Suu Kyi
If it's good enough for her
It's good enough for me
Burma Shave
21 is delightful.
My thoughts about Aung San Suu Kyi remain unchanged.
Don't we have these things, and aren't they called 'private security contractors', and aren't they part of the reason the war costs a gajillion imperial crescents?
Brazil put BrasÃlia out there in part because they were afraid the Americans were going to annex the Amazon (it's like reason number five, but it was a reason). Also, the spot was chosen based on a dream some guy had had 40 years earlier.
Canberra was built for the same reason as DC - neutral territory between Sydney and Melbourne, I believe.
22: My thoughts exactly. I refrained from raising the issue only because I didn't want to be responsible for a 500-comment thread about prisoners of conscience and the male gaze.
Wasn't 18 one of Calvino's Invisible Cities?
While I'm sure that Naypyidaw is a [*cough*] masterpiece of urban planning, if Teh People wanted to topple the government, wouldn't it be pretty easy to just stop sending the malarial capitol food and supplies?
It's also depressing how often countries decide to build a new capital where there's been no development in the past.
Like Washington, DC?
16: Coolest looking script ever: Rongorongo from Easter Island.
In a Hobsbawmian resurrection of pre-modern southeast Asian traditions way, it's not completely insane -- look at the history of Mandalay. It's just brutal and pointless.
DC... Madison decided the debt transfer between the states and the Federal government needed a sweetener for the South. You can trace so many, many bad things in American history to that decision.
3: Oh, and according to an expert I spoke to once, although "Burma" and "Myanmar" both have the same ethnic etymon, "Burma" has more inclusive connotations, because it's what the British used to refer to the whole country.
(It's not a correction of a foreign mangling either - "Burma" corresponds to the native word "Bama.")
30: Rongorongo texts must look like Keith Haring paintings.
26: Yes, Zobeide. My favorite of all the invisible cities. It's the one full of people who have had the same dream about this woman who escapes, and so they change the city so that whatever spot she escaped at it is no longer possible to escape from.
Something I wrote about Rongorongo forever ago.
31's got it right. DC never needed to exist, perfectly fine capitals could have been created in NYC or Philadelphia. Baltimore or Trenton would've been damn awful though.
Hey, don't harsh on Baltimore. It's not all like The Wire. Just large parts of it. There are plenty of areas that are actually really nice. Bahlmer's much better than Philly.
But Trenton has got the best pizza!
Hey, today's NY Sun crossword included the following: [Rhyming roadside advertiser, modern-style?] = MYANMAR SHAVE. Synchronicity!