I see you have an article up about a vineyard in Shan State. It was a somewhat interesting article, though to be honest I'm not really a wine person, so I didn't find the details terribly interesting. But I wanted to talk to you about that title. I mean really, are you serious? I'm sure some editor there was like, "Get it? FER-menting a revolution! Hah!" Someone must have thought it was clever, because you actually printed it. Now, don't get me wrong, I often enjoy a good pun myself, but here's the thing - "ferments a revolution in Burma" isn't funny. It's kind of offensive. See, your article is about winemaking in Shan State in Burma, where there happens to be a real revolution going on. Sometimes humor is good in serious situations, and can be used to subvert the power structure by trivializing the actions of those who are in power. But by relating the revolution in Burma to the winemaking of a German retiree who probably paid lots of money to the government to get where he is, you're trivializing the cause of those who aren't in power, a cause for which many people have suffered.

So what of this vineyard? 40 acres isn't really much, but who did he buy it from - the government? If so, who did they steal it from? Has it been a boon to local farmers who will soon be growing grapes, or has it perhaps had negative consequences on local agriculture that no one's ever bothered to consider? There are so many questions about how this vineyard is affecting the local people and economy, and yet you address none of these. All you give us is a story about wine and an old German man whose getting rich off rich tourists in a country imprisoned by cruelty and suffering. He's living out his dream retirement in the mountians that some children call home but may never get the chance to see.

And for some reason, you posted what appears to be a slightly less edited version of the same article yesterday, but without that ridiculous title. What is that about? You also posted lots of good links on Burma, and your previous articles have been laudable, so I offer my criticism with the best of intentions, but the fluff piece on winemaking could have been a lot better, and whoever thought of that stupid title needs a little whack on the noggin.