On A More Serious Note

It took a little Sailor Jerry's in my sweet tea this morning to help me read the newest update out of Burma.

For those of you who don't know, I've spent a fair amount of time in Southeast Asia. While I've not spent time in Burma (you'll hear "Myanmar" on the news), a piece of my heart remains in that region of the world.

Just a quick crash course in things Burmese:

-Burma is currently known as Myanmar, though this is unrecognized by many as the official moniker
-Burma's democratic government was overthrown by a military coup in 1962
-Free speech is virtually non-existent in Burma
-Forced labor and forced prositution are not uncommon (including human trafficking to Thailand)
-Most protests if not all protests against the government have been violently repressed


Those things being said, do you honestly think any financial aid that is sent to Burma as a means to house and feed its people will help? I tell you no; it will only help in padding the pockets of government officials.

I speak this not as a mainly conservative American (who really could give a rat's ass about who the white neighborhoods in NC will vote for today), but as a person who has seen the governmental corruption of Southeast Asia first hand and knows that very little of the financial aid that is sent to help the Burmese homeless (1/5 of the entire country's population). I pray it won't be a repeat of the 2004 tsunami that killed so many in Indonesia (particularly in Aceh). As I have been watching CNN while writing this, one of the only Western reporters in Burma was chased out of a refugee camp by some soldiers.

I hope that your thoughts and prayers will go out to God for the Burmese today.