Commies are their own worst enemy

The Minneapolis Star Tribune has an on-line article about conditions inside Burma: "A sport-utility vehicle goes for $250,000; a cell phone, $3,000. As foreign aid workers test Myanmar's commitment to allow them to provide relief after the cyclone, they face not only administrative hurdles erected by a xenophobic military government but also an economy warped by years of misrule... A frustrated Myanmar government official in Yangon, who requested that his name be withheld because talking to a foreign reporter could cause him to lose his job or worse, said he gets $120 a month for his official salary but that hardly meets his needs. "Everyone must find a way to survive," he said. The police collect bribes at checkpoints from truck drivers. At airports, pilots and ground crews split the extra-luggage surcharges from passengers. "Everyone is doing it," the official said. "If you don't or can't, you are doomed."