"Turn on your heart light" - Neil Diamond

Creating the Astro-Comb to Locate Earth-Like Planets
A new way of reading light will sharpen the view of planets around other stars
WASHINGTON, May 7 -- Thanks to the ability of astronomers to detect the presence of extrasolar planets orbiting distant stars, scientists today are able to examine hundreds of solar systems. Now researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. have created an “astro-comb” to help astronomers detect lighter planets, more like Earth, around distant stars. The Harvard group will present their findings at the 2009 Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics/International Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/IQEC), which takes place May 31 to June 5 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

http://www.osa.org/

Cool stuff going on here with light... any bright ideas ?

US's NATO policy on Burma - "No Action, Talk Only"

Aung San Suu Kyi should be released immediately: US
4 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Thursday that pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi should be released immediately after Myanmar's military junta brought new charges against her.
"I am ready to say something more than just that ... we're troubled," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters when asked if he would go further than a statement he released earlier in the day.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jlXTP-B1KhNe4MAZvCXBlCi4j4xw
May 14, 2009
Burma Should Release Aung San Suu Kyi, Allow Greater Political Freedom, Say Berman and Ros-Lehtinen
Washington, DC – The chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today called on the military government of Burma to release human rights leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was brought before a Burmese court on short notice and sent to prison.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has devoted her life to the peaceful struggle for democracy and freedom for the Burmese people,” said Chairman Howard L. Berman and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. “The military junta should immediately release her, allow greater political freedoms in the country, and respect the human rights of all of Burma ’s citizens.”

I'll huff and I'll puff... and I'll... I'll...

Visit Washington, DC and dine at Cafe Milano

You like a nice loud fine dining experience ? Enjoy great food and celeb watching. Come on down and spend this week's allowance of your grand daddy's trust fund at the DC place to see and be seen. http://www.cafemilano.net/index.htm

Marc and J-Lo at Cafe Milano in January 2009.

Ye\ Taw ?

RANGOON — Police tightened security around Burma's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday after an American man was arrested for allegedly swimming across a lake and sneaking into her lakeside home. The Myanma Ahlin newspaper reported that authorities fished the man out of Rangoon's Inya Lake early Wednesday while he was returning from the visit to Suu Kyi's home. The report identified the man as John William Yeattaw but ...

Rambo is looking old... ( "Ye - ttaw" actually means brave warrior in Burmese)... you just can't beat that Regime... even Rambo went home in the end... )
( Yettaw is 53 years old... 5+3=8... the number of finite infinity... ala '88... )

http://burmanewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/05/us-man-arrested-for-entering-suu-kyi.html

"Don't give us carrots, we're not donkeys..."

U.S. Seeks New Tack on BurmaCarrot-and-Stick Approach May Replace Sanctions Diplomacy
By Tim JohnstonWashington Post Foreign ServiceSunday, April 12, 2009;
BANGKOK -- When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced recently that the United States was reviewing its policy of sanctions against Burma's government, it marked the final recognition of a global failure to modify the behavior of one of the world's most repressive regimes.
"Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn't influenced the Burmese junta," Clinton said during a visit to Asia in February. "Reaching out and trying to engage them hasn't worked, either."

Hee Haw... Hee Haaaw....

Who's Lovin' you, baby? - Kojak

This dude is smart... check out his work...

Amory Lovins - Global Energy Seminar Series, US State Dept on May 4th, 2009

Scientist Amory Lovins added two more awards to his collection, TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people designation and National Design Awards' "Design Mind" honor. The 2009 TIME 100 included Lovins with the likes of Edward Kennedy, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, and Barack Obama. A short write-up by Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, credited Lovins for his foresight on energy strategy.

http://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Energy/E77-01_TheRoadNotTaken.pdf

From $3M to $50M... thank you, Nargis (?)

One Year After Cyclone Nargis: Aid to Burma Still Crucial - by Refugees International

Wed, 04/29/2009 - 16:50

Washington, D.C. - One year after Cyclone Nargis struck the Burmese delta on May 2, a sustained effort is still needed to ensure that aid operations continue to assist the Burmese people, Refugees International said today. Nearly 80 humanitarian agencies responded effectively to the disaster by restructuring their programs to meet the most pressing needs and successfully training thousands of new Burmese staff in humanitarian operations. As a result, the United Nations says that one million people received food aid, nearly 200,000 households got agricultural support and half a million children received help in education.

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/press-room/press-release/one-year-after-cyclone-nargis-aid-burma-still-crucial

"I'm just the cook... " - Casey Ryback

Myanmar ignores US request to see detained citizen
The Associated PressFriday, May 8, 2009 8:37 AM
YANGON, Myanmar -- The U.S. Embassy said Friday that the Myanmar government has ignored its repeated requests for access to an American arrested for allegedly swimming to the lakeside home of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and sneaking inside.
The man's motives remained unclear, and the embassy said so far the only information the military-ruled government has offered is the man's name _ John William Yettaw _ and his passport number. ..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/AR2009051200952.html

"What a tangled web we weave" - Walter Scott

U.S. Diplomat, Burmese Official Meet
White House Is Reviewing Policy Toward Nation

By Glenn KesslerWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 26, 2009

A senior U.S. diplomat met with the Burmese foreign minister in the ruling junta's jungle capital yesterday, possibly signaling a softening in the tense relations between the two countries.
The Obama administration is conducting a high-profile review of its policy toward Burma, including whether unilateral sanctions have been effective, and the State Department issued a statement late yesterday saying the visit by Stephen Blake, director of the office for mainland Southeast Asia, "does not reflect a change in policy or approach to Burma."
read all - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/25/AR2009032503116.html