A devastating cyclone in Myanmar killed close to 4,000 people over the weekend with another 3000 missing in its aftermath, the state media reported. The self isolated military junta in power in the Southeast Asian nation has taken the highly unusual step of asking for massive outside assistance in response to the humanitarian crisis there.

Cyclone Nargis, seen in the satellite photo below, wreaked havoc on the Burmese coastline with 150 mph winds on Friday night and Saturday morning, dumping more than 20 inches of rain. Massive flooding has ensued in the region and the risk of disease now threatens to kill thousands more.

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Sylvester Stallone and Rambo are symbols of machismo, testosterone, fighting, shooting, punching, and… international human rights activism? To the people of Myanmar (Burma), who are living under an oppressive military junta, Rambo has become the poster boy for the pro-democracy movement, which, ironically, is non-violent, peaceful and largely Buddhist.

Nothing proves the democracy-inspiring potential of the film more than the Burmese Government’s decision to ban the movie, and the Burmese people’s decision to risk going to jail by downloading and burning dvds of the international blockbuster hit. Even the US Campaign for Burma applauds the film for its realistic representation of the brutality of the junta. SPOILER ALERT:

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A blogger and member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy who wrote about the lack of free expression in Burma (Myanmar technically) has been arrested. Nay Myo Latt owns three Internet Cafes and recently commented on the suppression of freedom following the demonstrations this fall according to a release from Reporters Without Borders:

Myanmar authorities have stepped up their surveillance of the Internet since the beginning of the month, pressuring Internet cafe owners to register personal details of all users and to program screen captures every five minutes on each computer, the release said.

This data apparently is sent to the Ministry of Communications, it said.

The only blog platform that had been accessible within Myanmar, the Google-owned Blogger, has been blocked by the regime since Jan. 23, preventing bloggers from posting entries unless they use proxies or other ways to get around censorship, the group said.

”This blockage is one of the ways used by the government to reduce Burmese citizens to silence.

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