Pacific Views: What do the military junta in Myanmar and the Bush/Cheney regime have in common?

Discourse.net: US accused of operating secret, floating prisons.

U.S. Diplomacy: 111 countries sign a cluster bomb ban...but not the United States.

Consortiumblog: Among the many lobbyists McCain won't fire.

Intrepid Liberal Journal: Chronicling the uprising: An interview with David Sirota

Boing Boing: Screengrab from donut sleeper cell training video surfaces

The Opinion Mill's Sunday Bookchat: 1968 revisited — "What journalists have forgotten about covering political conventions! What wingnuts need to learn about Winston Churchill! What George F. Will needs to learn about book reviewing!"

Daily Howler: Remember a key rule of "liberal" journalism — praise McCain's honesty and honor, especially while reporting his dishonesty and dishonorable conduct.

Lance Mannion: A key concept of liberalism explained in seven sentences (well, really five, but you'll see).

Tom Dispatch: Changing the world, one camera shot at a time. Myanmar/Burma: Why the U.N. and the U.S. should invade Myanmar (but can't), why we shouldn't, and why such actions shouldn't be taken lightly.

The Neocons: Neither honesty, nor reason, nor shame, shall keep them from their self-appointed rounds of starting another unnecessary war.

Guest roundup by Batocchio. That's it for me for now! Next up is Media Bloodhound. Please send your tips and suggestions to mediabloodhound at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Prairie Weather: It's all about timing

The Smirking Chimp: Lobby This, John Sidney: Another McCain aide out over Myanmar ties.

Tomgram: The defining moment for climate change

Cranky Cindy Changes the World: Helen Thomas is my hero.

The Poor Man Institute: The Amazing League of Pundits!

The Opinion Mill's Bookchat: George F. Will refutes himself while trying to refute Rick Perlstein's Nixonland. How a government attempt to silence a wartime dissident created an uproar -- and sparked the American Civil Liberties Union. How to explain Dick Cheney to your children.

Yesterday in the Washington Post, Bill Kristol expressed frustration that the U.S. didn’t do more to help Burma.

What about using our national power to help the Burmese people against their tyrannical rulers? Burma’s regime lost what little legitimacy it had with its bloody crackdown. Parts of the ruling elite must be nervous. Couldn’t we give at least some of Burma’s generals and soldiers reason to doubt the wisdom of slaughtering political opponents? Couldn’t we turn our intelligence-gathering capabilities on Burma to monitor, document and publicize what is happening? Couldn’t we tell the generals who are ordering and the soldiers who are carrying out this crackdown that they are being watched, that their names are being recorded — and that the day will come when there will be plenty of evidence to hold them personally accountable for their deeds?

I believe that day comes for us all, Bill, but let me address your questions anyway and explain why we didn't do more to help Burma. Click here for more.

(guest blogged by Bill W.)

(Photo courtesy of Burma Digest)

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The pro-democracy protests in Myanmar have been going on for weeks as the Buddhist monks and their supporters have pitted themselves against Myanmar's ruling junta in a country almost completely devoid of freedom as we know it. While the reports vary, things have taken a turn for the worse since yesterday as riot police have begun firing tear gas, beating protesters in the streets, and arresting hundreds of the monks. CNN reports violence and shots fired, and the AFP is currently reporting that "At least four people including three Buddhist monks were killed."

Police opened fire and baton-charged protesters at the Shwedagon pagoda in Myanmar's main city, but later some 1,000 monks regrouped and paraded through the streets, to the delight of thousands of onlookers.

They roared approval for the monks and shouted at security forces: "You are fools! You are fools!"

Burma Digest Magazine is a great blog that has been keeping up with all of the latest developments, news stories, pictures, and YouTube videos people have been sneaking out of the country and posting as Myanmar has tight internet controls.