Loyal fans of this blog know that I roundly despise all forms of oppression and am particularly bothered by grossly inept political institutions the world over.  That being said, I have been following with extreme consternation the developments in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where the ruling military junta has bent over backwards to make the lives of its citizens as close to unbearable as is humanly possible.  The notoriously corrupt and violent regime first splashed onto the international scene (in a big way, at least) when it savagely put down monk-led anti-government protests that later became known as the saffron revolution.  The junta did itself one better by totally failing to properly respond (itself) to the needs of its devastated populace in the wake of Cyclone Nagris, which reportedly led to the deaths of over 100,000 people; in addition, the morality-starved generals, desperate to avoid any challenge to their ill-gotten power, purposely limited the reach of international aid agencies, which just recently led the U.S. to call back naval ships stocked with aid supplies that were never delivered.     

In an equally-amazing fuck you to the Burmese people, the head of the junta, General Than Shwe, threw a lavish wedding for his cherubic daughter, who (of course) recently married a senior member of the military.  The good general spared no expense for his sausage-fingered daughter, who was adorned with enough jewels to make Elizabeth Taylor envious and who reportedly received gifts in excess of $50 million.  This in a country considered among the poorest in the world with per capita GDP clocking in at a woeful $270(!) and whose infrastructure is in the same shape as it was 100 years ago.  Click here for highlights of that despicable affair.

I ask again – is there no justice in this world?