What Part of “Trick or Treat” Don’t You Get, Daw?
My son is going as a punk, and my daughter as Halloween itself (combining parts of traditional costumes—witch’s hat, pirate’s eye patch, black cat’s tail, etc.—into one metacostume).
Kids in Burma, however, really get into Halloween.
Myanmar’s military government, already under criticism for abuses, is recruiting children as young as 10 into its armed forces, a U.S. rights group charged in a report released Wednesday.
Government recruiters target children because of “continued army expansion, high desertion rates and a lack of willing volunteers,” the 135-page report by New York-based Human Rights Watch said.
“Military recruiters and civilian brokers receive cash payments and other incentives for each new recruit, even if the recruit clearly violates minimum age or health standards,” it said.
“An apple? We don’t want no stinkin’ apple. Come across with the Milky Ways and Mounds or you’ll be floating face down in the Irrawaddy.”
Ye Htut, deputy director general of Myanmar’s Information Ministry, said the charges were “another example of biased reporting by this organization, which based its report on the baseless accusations and exaggerated lies of insurgent groups on the border.”
Don’t deny it, Ye. Here’s your text: “You got a problem with me? You know where I live. You come see me if you have something to say to me. Don’t issue no damn report. I wipe my a** with your report. [This is him talking, not me, remember.] Kids get three squares and a gun. You got anything better? Damn human rights pussies.”
But reports make us feel better. We won’t actually do anything about it, but reports give us something to feel bad about. Give us that, at least.