On the Plus Side, Iran Suddenly Seems a Lot Less Scary

[4thofeleven]

"With the help of North Korea, Myanmar has acquired components for a nuclear weapons program, including technology for uranium enrichment and long-range missiles, ABC News has learned.

A defector from Myanmar -- an army major and deputy commander of a top secret nuclear facility -- escaped the country with thousands of files detailing a secret nuclear and missile program."
- North Korea Helping Myanmar Secret Nuclear Program

So, which is the most terrifying part of this story? A, Nuclear-armed Burma full stop, B, Nuclear-armed Burma leading to a greater SE-Asian Arms Race, or C, That Burma's government has apparently looked at North Korea and said "Yes! That's what we should be more like!"

Unrelated - why is the American media the only western news source that refers to Burma purely as Myanmar? Everyone else either refuses to accept the name change, or always refers to the country as 'Myanmar, formerly Burma" or some variant...

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

Oh, fantastic.

I don't know about the name thing. We've had plenty of Americans change their names to Obi-Wan Kenobi for contests and towns changing their names to Truth Or Consequences for contests and all sorts of weird things, so maybe we're just used to shrugging and calling someone/thing whatever they want? Although I can think of counter-examples, and I don't know of any study quantifying whether Americans are more likely to change their names to weird things than other countries, so who knows.