Suu Kyi Visits America: How far we have come!

 That Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader, has arrived for an American visit augurs well for continual political and social reforms, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners in Myanmar. How far we have come! When I was in Burma, (Myanmar) just a few years ago, one couldn’t even mention the name of this ikon of her people who for about 20 years was under house arrest and often in prison. But Burma is opening up and Suu Kyi is now a member of Parliament. And while there is a long road ahead, Western nations, including the U.S. have lifted some sanctions imposed during military rule. The small Jewish community in Burma survived a half century of military rule. To this very day, Moses Samuels every day opens Musmeah Yeshua, the 100-year-old synagogue in Yangon, as I note in my book, The Scattered Tribe: Traveling the Diaspora from Cuba to India to Tahiti & Beyond,” (Globe Pequot Press) in which I have a whole chapter on Burma entitled, “The Land of Golden Pagodas.” See all ye world travelers “on the road to Mandalay, where the flyin-fishes play.”  Visit my blog Blog  bengfrank.blogspot.com “I travel the world.” Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/The-Scattered-Tribe-Traveling-Diaspora/dp/0762770333/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337002629&sr=8-1  http://amzn.to/J3Z47T  And check out this website: Myanmarshalom.com, for more tourist information on Burma.