Unwitting anonymity of a headless monk buried in a monsoon umbrella. Somewhere in Rangoon, surrounded by the usual crowd of people squatting round things spread out for sale in the middle of the street. Very possibly he's fiddling with the contraptions to tune in to the forbidden crackle of BBC, Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma or Radio Free Asia -- about the only three reliable sources of outside info in Burma, beyond an array of fabulously named and less fabulously successful Internet proxies that pave the way to a world beyond in which gmail, yahoo and any site with the words Burma and Free are not thought tools of 'nebulous 'destructive elements' or 'skyful liars' of a kind regularly denounced on the back pages of the government mouthpiece.

A neat segue that to introduce the New Light of Myanmar: Glorious Tribute to Make Excellent the Genius of King General Than Shwe, Senior Leader and Most Royal Jade Buddha. The paper, with characteristic Bolshevik subtlely -- and English as refined -- warned yesterday against any predictions of guilt in Aung San Suu Kyi's trial. (In also incidentally has a friendly message of felicitations to the King of Morrocco and a blow- by- blow of paddy transplantation celebrations. Never let it be said that newspapers always lead with bleed.) "Biased writings about the trial in progress, writings about which side will win or lose in that trial, predicted writings about the possibility fo the defendant's conviction and writings about tendency to give instructions to the judgment of the judge" amount to contempt of court, which some see as a none too delicate threat against vocal leaders of the opposition, include the venerated U Win Tin, journalist and NLD strategist extraordinaire. Whose English, I have it on good phone evidence, is incredibly refined.


Right, back to that serious piece I owe a publication. Apologies for lightweight content today. Stay tuned...and not to me, but to Burma. Sad things to come in the morrow. We predict.