You haven't done enough YouTubing. Try these searches:

"iraq war fallujah"

"brown recluse spider bites"

"staph infection"

"zits"

That last one is no joke, by the way. People will film and upload ANYTHING to YouTube.

What difference does it make?

I don't know what difference it's going to make in Burma.

But I think the Internet played a role in ending the systematic extrajudicial homicides of Thai drug users that followed the Thai government's campaign for a Drug Free Thailand.

I think the phrase Drug Free Thailand is now being interpreted less homicidally by the Thai police as a result of the Internet.

The effect of this video might not be instantaneous, but I doubt you can deny it's effect. I'm sure this will be all over the news networks by tomorrow morning. The same motivation that results in the disproportionate coverage every time a pretty white girl goes missing is going to make this huge.

And then people are going to feel like they're connected to the violence. Its no longer some abstract uprising, now it feels like a human being just got killed in front of our eyes. Now its personal.

People don't start revolutions because of something they think, they start revolutions because of something they feel. This video moves the situation from the academic to the emotional, or at least it does for me. So the difference is how you feel right now. How do you feel right now?

America has no shame anymore, except for those of us who are ashamed to be American. Our leaders do this sort of thing, and then alternately brag about it and deny it, often both at once, to different audiences.

Americans killed some Spanish journalists not very long ago, and shrugged it off. Americans kill powers more innocent people than Myanmar. A lot of it is on the www, and it makes no difference at all.

This time I'm serious. I was chilled to the bone by how this shooting reminded me of the on-camera murder that ABC News correspondent in Nicaragua back in '79. I was only 14 when I saw it on TV, and couldn't sleep for weeks.

Thanks for the link!

This video of Nagai's death will likely have the biggest impact on Japan, which until now has shied away from exerting much pressure on the government out of fear of jeopardizing (among other things) the investments of Japanese firms in the country.

As I note in the latest post on Mutant Frog, his death has caused a 180 shift in media attention from Japan, so now even commentators who usually worry about which boy band star is dating who are now calling for the junta to step down and barring that Japan should implement sanctions.

Tiny, obsessed mind overloading....must....blame....Bush!!! Someone tell me how to think!!!

May God bless and protect everyone in Burma who finds the courage to stand up to this horrible government.

Japan is the largest provider of $$$ aid to Myanmar. The killing (and publicizing) of the death of a Japanese photojournalist may change this fact.

China already said it has less contol over what goes on there than has been assumed. That is also pretty telling, and can be read more than one way.

Myanmar has probably royally pissed off the two biggest backers of their regime.

I presume there is a technical error in this story, as the bottom two thirds of it have been cut off. You know, the content which will eventually link the problems in Myanmar to Bush and the Rethuglicans.

Oh wait, maybe that is Glenn Greenwald.

Where is old Glenn on this subject, anyway? Could it be that because the truly evil people in this story turn out not be Republicans at all, but actually the junta and their official Chinese backers, that the usual Bush-bashers aren't interested?

Oh dear, Andrew. I'm afraid you must go back and find a way to blame Bush for this. China, along with Muslims, African-Americans who beat white kids half to death, and women who make false rape accusations, is in the category of good entities. Christians, white people, and conservatives are evil; please revise your article.

You've made your point, it looks like 3 times already on this thread. Unless you're all different anons, who knows or cares. Are you writing on King Kaufman's sports blog, too? Because he has written about Burma (or China, Darfur,etc.) yet, either.

Political commentators talk about politics, got it? Domestic political commentators talk about their own countries, usually, unless some big event is taking place that effects us back home. I don't see any conservative commentators talking about politics or radicalism in Hamburg right now, nor do I expect to. They do mention (like liberals) Israel, Iraq and Iran more than they mention most other nations for obvious reasons. I rarely hear either mention Afghanistan other than in passing, or to make a point.

Spare me your false outrage and stop clutching your pearls.

p.s. As far as China, don't blame liberals, the Bush administration & it's disasterous "borrow and spend" policies and trade practices have put us in debt to China on a massive scale. We are no longer in any postion to demand anything from them.

Let's get some giant puppets and protest something. After 27 years it must time for that. I am horribly earnest about blaming someone for this. For I am Liberal. I must play directly into George Bush's distraction in order to prove something or other.

Ok, I take pity on you, Anonymous. I mean it's just so cute how you're trying so hard, waving your little arms in the corner and yelling "notice me! notice me!" Come on, fellow Salon posters, where's the love? It seems like this guy's head is close to exploding. If we don't start paying attention to his identical posts on every single Salon article, he might wither away, just like Tinkerbell.

To answer Andrew's question, we'll have to see how Japan reacts. If they start pulling out some of their investments, the video will have made a big difference. And the fact that this is even being discussed should count for something, no? But I'm not sure how much Japan can do - it seems like no major change will come without China's cooperation.