Monday, August 27, 2007

Is SLORC prowling the web?

Last week's Secret Theme round had a question about Burma Shave, one of the more imaginatively advertised products in American history.

As I do every week, I included that question and answer in my post of those rounds. Shortly after I did, my visitation log recorded a visit from Burma/Myanmar, which is interesting to say the least. The product had little to do with the country in a cultural sense, the name derived from the fact that some of the oils used in making it were imported from Burma.

I imagine that one of two things drove a person in Burma to have a gander at this blog. One possibility is that some poor soul stuck in the highly repressive military-controlled nation wanted some truth about what's happening there and found their way to a computer, typed in "Burma," and found some white dork wearing a top hat with a question mark. The other is that a member of SLORC, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, is prowling the web looking for what we undesirable westerners have to say about the poxy regime. "Burma" was the older name for the country, but SLORC prefers "Myanmar," thus any reference to Burma on a blog must be immediately suspect. Either way the visitor was surely disappointed. First confused, then disappointed...

For more on democracy movements in Burma, check out this site or this one. "Go Team Internet, Beat State!"

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