Thumper
02-01-2020, 03:48 PM
I generally watch FOX News, but will admit I cruise around the other news outlets just to get a perspective as to what others say/think. One thing that has really stood out today is, whenever FOX covers Trumps latest additions to the travel ban, they list Burma as one of the countries on the list. I thought this a bit odd since "Burma" was re-named Myanmar over 20 years ago. While scanning the various news organizations I watch, I noticed BBC, CNN Al Jazeera and even Reuters all listed Myanmar as one of the countries on the new list (not Burma). As a side note, I was working the Burmese mission while in Mil. Intel when I decided to return to civilian life. I've always referred to the country as Burma, more out of habit than any personal or political reason. Even when I traveled in Burma more recently, I always referred to it as Burma and many locals I dealt with didn't seem to care one way or the other.
It's the same in Vietnam, Saigon has always been Saigon to me and I still refer to it as Saigon as opposed to Ho Chi Minh City. I will say, while visiting, I noticed the locals still call the city Saigon ... UNLESS there is some government official in the immediate area, then I noticed they tend to switch and refer to it as Ho Chi Minh City. I never really felt like there was any "fear factor" involved, I think it's just one of those "when in Rome ...." type of deals. But back to the Burma thing. The Burma/Myanmar thing has always been contentious because of the way the change came about. When the ruling military government took over after a coup, they instituted the name change ... AFTER killing 1000's of pro-democracy protesters.
Actually, the names are used interchangeably, but Myanmar is the name recognized by the United Nations and about any world map I look at has the country listed as Myanmar (Burma). I just find it odd that all of the news organizations I've watched use Myanmar in their travel ban list, with a couple Myanmar (Burma) listings thrown in, but FOX is the ONLY news organization I've observed listing only Burma. My question is, do you think they're making a political statement by not recognizing the deadly military coup established government? Or am I simply reading way too much into this?
I know this probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans to most, but with all the time I've spent in Burma, it just sticks out like a sore thumb to me.
It's the same in Vietnam, Saigon has always been Saigon to me and I still refer to it as Saigon as opposed to Ho Chi Minh City. I will say, while visiting, I noticed the locals still call the city Saigon ... UNLESS there is some government official in the immediate area, then I noticed they tend to switch and refer to it as Ho Chi Minh City. I never really felt like there was any "fear factor" involved, I think it's just one of those "when in Rome ...." type of deals. But back to the Burma thing. The Burma/Myanmar thing has always been contentious because of the way the change came about. When the ruling military government took over after a coup, they instituted the name change ... AFTER killing 1000's of pro-democracy protesters.
Actually, the names are used interchangeably, but Myanmar is the name recognized by the United Nations and about any world map I look at has the country listed as Myanmar (Burma). I just find it odd that all of the news organizations I've watched use Myanmar in their travel ban list, with a couple Myanmar (Burma) listings thrown in, but FOX is the ONLY news organization I've observed listing only Burma. My question is, do you think they're making a political statement by not recognizing the deadly military coup established government? Or am I simply reading way too much into this?
I know this probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans to most, but with all the time I've spent in Burma, it just sticks out like a sore thumb to me.