A Classroom Slip-Up Worth Noting
Changing the Name of the Government

The current manifestation of the Burmese military dictatorship calls itself the "State Peace and Development Council" or SPDC.

One of my students always calls it the SPCD instead. All the other students laugh and he continues talking unawares.

Since this one student slips up every time, one of my other students came up with a hopeful new acronym to cover for him. That student says he really meant: "State Peace and Constitutional Democracy".

I added that we should call it a Democrazy and he agreed. What with opposition National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's probable release in the middle of next month, we may be well on our way to seeing this craziness transpire. For now, the SPCD live only in my classroom.