BLOOD FOR OIL ... OLIVE OIL, THAT IS For Sr. General Than Shwe, eating right is a matter of State

Myanmar's repressive Senior General Than Shwe may be responsible for persecuting his own country's ethnic minority groups, but he sure is fond of the French—especially when it comes to their haute cuisine. The epicurean dictator recently revealed that he had been taking cooking classes with a leading French chef in Rangoon. And his hobby seems to be effecting his political decisions. He recently told a crowd at Burma's premier military academy that the Burmese people "must raise Myanmar's standing in the world with gastronomic diplomacy," by learning from the French. And of course, like every social-economic system today, it all boils down to oil: "The Myanmar people must endeavor to cook with oil in better, more innovative ways." Shwe's plan: to organize cooking master classes for his generals.

French chefs notwithstanding, the Senior General has also been known to take his political cues from astrologists. Early this year, he is said to have been spooked by a negative astrological reading, causing him to abruptly order that the capital of Myanmar be moved from Rangoon to a dusty jungle town called Pyinmana.

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