Sunday 26 May 2019

Dutch Way of Death


Not much different from Burma, which is very wild and more like book Dirty London about London's old cemeteries.

I have a novel or novella (fragment) I started abt 25 years ago, about an undertaker couple, bc that business is very profitable in Burma.

Must finish it.

km

photo K M Kaung

Sunday 19 May 2019

U Kyaw Win, My Conscience, An Exile's Memoir.


I only found out today about this from U Kyaw Win.

It's very well written, from the sample, and has an even tone, to my mind neither self-satisfied nor unduly spiteful, though the pain is evident.

I've known U Kyaw Win in the Overseas Democracy Movement since 1997 when I was in Boulder CO for the Conference on International Affairs, when I interviewed him for Radio Free Asia.

On the surface, he comes across as rather brusque, even rude at times, confrontational.

But this is a well-written book, full of detail and emotion.  Written in a very accessible manner, with great honesty.

As there aren't many good books on Burma, I thought I'd recommend this book, even though I have not read the whole of it yet.

Part of being in The Movement was meeting many committed activists like U Kyaw Win.

kmk

5-19-2019


Saturday 18 May 2019

Herman Wouk, novelist, dead at 103.


He's right, an imaginative life never grows old and you live "everywhere" at once--

In 1983 I had just arrived, had no TV in my dorm room and watched Winds of War on weekends with my friends.

I still remember shoe-faced Robert Mitchum as Pug.

The novel is told in a very creative way with P's family members, beginning with the Nazi invasion of Poland.

Then years later I read my $1 copy of Winds bought at the Bethesda Writers Center fr their used books.

I read all the books too I bought for a few cents each at Princeton flea markets.

I'm glad I did.  But I sent them all back to Burma, so I don't have them now.

Like Lord of the Flies, and Sophie's Choice.

Herman Wouk was really "woke" like his name--just look at his photos, very alive and engaged to the end.

That's how we should strive to be.

Louis Wallinski who was Burmese democratically elected PM U Nu's eco. advisor in 1950s was like that.

Maybe physical frailer, but as someone said, "still firing off op eds via email at nearly age 100" when he passed away.

Burmese singer and Aung San Suu Kyi's friend Dora (Ma Than E Fend) was like that, moving house internationally in her 90s, I think.

We shld live a bourgeois life but leave the fireworks for our art and life's work.

Be well, read and write.

km
5-18-2019










Tuesday 14 May 2019

Chinese folk novel Monkey--translated by Arthur Waley.


Waley was Gordon H Luce's friend, and Luce was my father's mentor.

There are other translations, but this is the best.

It inspired me to write my She Monkey goes West, a book length poem, which was  Pew finalist script.

I already have the cover, but I must work on getting it published.

Most agents don't want to handle poetry.

km

5-14-2019

Beto O'Rourke--The new JFK--why you should vote for him, if a US citizen.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/o-rourke-decries-trump-cozying-up-to-strongmen-59566149532

Why not to dry again with used deep fried oil.

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Why not to re-use deep fried oil--

https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/answered-questions/reusing-cooking-oil-safe




Alice,
I am trying to convince my good friend not to save the grease she cooks with for re-use. Instead of draining grease out of a pan after frying it, she saves and stores it to use again. It seems to me that grease that is cooked once is bad enough, twice must be horrible. Am I unjustly picking on her, or am I right that there is an even greater health risk when you cook with pre-cooked oil/grease?
Dear Reader,
Although re-using cooking oil and/or grease is a somewhat common practice, it can pose some serious health hazards. The most common danger when recycling cooking oil is that it becomes rancid or spoiled. In addition to having strange flavors and odors, rancid oil may contain possibly carcinogenic free radicals. These pesky molecules are then absorbed into the fried food and ingested by an unlucky eater.
Using fresh oil every time you cook is the healthiest option. However, if that is not a viable option and it must be re-used, here are some helpful (and healthful) tips:
  • Strain it through a few layers of cheesecloth to catch any food particles before storing. Be careful with hot oil, though, because you can easily get burned.
  • Shake off excess batter from food before frying it.
  • Use a good thermometer to fry foods at a maximum of 375°F (or 190°C).
  • Turn off the heat after you are done cooking. Exposing oil to prolonged heat accelerates rancidity.
  • Don't mix different types of oil.
  • Store oil in a cool, dark place.
  • Avoid iron or copper pots or pans for frying oil that is to be reused. These metals also accelerate rancidity.
Here’s another tip on oil safety. Frying foods at or above 375°F can lead to the accumulation of 4-hydroxy-2-trans-nonenal (HNE) in the oil. What’s that, you ask? HNE is a toxic substance that has been associated with an increased risk of stroke, atherosclerosis, elevated levels of LDL cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and various liver diseases. It only takes one use to create HNE in the oil, and reusing oil at too high of a heat can cause even more HNE to build-up.
How to avoid HNE? When heating oil to very high temperatures, use a thermometer to ensure that you’re not heating the oil above 375°F. This is the ideal temperature for frying. Also, stick to oil low in linoleic acid, such as olive oil and canola oil. Researchers found that HNE is more likely to build up in oils with high levels of linoleic acid. Oils with the highest percentage of linoleic acid are safflower oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil, and corn oil, so you may want to stay away from those if you enjoy a deep fryer.
Alice!

You can re-use the oil without heating to top up mango and other pickles in bottles, but nothing else.  You can use it to top off salads or a curry, at least that's what my surgeon brother in law told me. 
 
Dispose of the cooked oil in the proper way.  It can probably be re-used to make soap, but I do not know how. 

Sunday 12 May 2019

Rohingya activists' handy handbook.

https://www.amazon.com/Rohingya-Genocide-Burma-2012-2017-Activists-ebook/dp/B078G3W3XL

Review of Francis Wade's book, The Enemy Within

https://www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/review/2018/07/myanmars-enemy-within/julia-wallace

Go Fund Me--Aung Myo Win needs a kidney transplant.

https://www.gofundme.com/emergency-medical-fund-for-aung-myo-min

Bird flu or avian flu--

Important info on bird flu or avian flu


Without front wheels--myanmar--

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48245203

No ambulance or fire engine in case anything went wrong either.

Essays about the Institute of Economics, Rangoon.

https://www.amazon.com/Let-Fly-Flowers-Institute-Economics/dp/1514616378#reader_1514616378

My memoir--A Time to Write: Not Just about Burma.

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Write-Burma-Memoir-Memoirs/dp/153977421X

Friday 3 May 2019

A man named Tool who gives away cups for free + NYT paywall down for May 3-5


If you're like me, you get very frustrated when NYT or Wapo says, "you have -- more articles", and "this is your last for this month."

Sometimes, like last month, I "saved them" till the last day, then I went on a reading binge.

Well, May 3-5, NYT paywall is down for World Press Freedom Day.

Enjoy or be sad or inform yourself, whatever, but READ.

km

5-4-2019

Children's book--Wonky Donkey

https://www.amazon.com/Wonky-Donkey-Craig-Smith/dp/0545261244/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_pd_crbs_1_4/131-5866453-6082848?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0545261244&pd_rd_r=60239da5-336c-4e6a-b363-51c6420e9909&pd_rd_w=oEmXy&pd_rd_wg=yB6AA&pf_rd_p=c262ab4b-eb56-4881-871e-2ee78574fea3&pf_rd_r=Q271HMPN2DCMTVXP5AVG&psc=1&refRID=Q271HMPN2DCMTVXP5AVG#reader_0545261244

Dancing like a Peacock, and Koel Bird--my stories from the Burma-Thai Border.

 https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Like-Peacock-Koel-Bird/dp/1497514851

A seven year old child is sent off by her mother with a strange man, because she cannot feed her any more, to make a living in Thailand and send money home to Burma. A U.S. based computer security expert goes to give classes in Chiangmai, Northern Thailand and gets the surprise of his life.

Based on real life stories narrated to me by social workers and others--fictionalized of course.

kmk
5-3-2019

New Thai king to be crowned--

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/bangkok-travel-royal-coronation-thailand/index.html

Former White House chief of staff joins board of biggest company running migrant shelters in USA.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-kelly-joins-board-of-caliburn-international-company-operating-largest-unaccompanied-migrant-children-shelter/

This sounds like Jewish concentration camps, incarceration of Japanese during WWII
and "Christianization" of Native-Americans.

Not good.

Shame on Kelly and trmp admin.

Kudos to journalist who broke the story.

Bestselling WWII author Diane Moody wrote that a teacher!! at a book discussion asked her about "World War Eleven"

Educate yourself.  No excuse in this day and age.

In 1970s I met one Burmese editor who argues vociferously that World War II shld not be capitalizied.

It wasn't political.  It was stupid.  Finally she pulled out a little index card that poet Zawgyi had written--but he had forgotten to include major wars of events like the Great Depression.

KMK

5-3-2019
John Kelly, far left, while he was WH chief of staff.

Denisovans and Neanderthals


Closed caption on this one has many spelling errors--


Found on Tibet plateau.

Cyclone Fani makes landfall in India--Bangladesh Rohingya Refugee camps also threateded

https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/03/asia/gallery/cyclone-fani/index.html

Poor refugees, first the Burmese junta, then the sea, then wild animals, then a major cyclone.

5-3-2019