The Burmese tragedy that has unfolded over the past weeks has captured the attention of the international community as no other event in contemporary Burmese history. The availability through the Internet and then through the BBC and CNN of the images of the demonstrators, especially the monks, and the beatings by the government forces (in and out of uniform) have inflamed world opinion. And these images, due to the proliferation of satellite TV dishes throughout Yangon and other urban areas, have brought the tragedy to the attention of the Burmese people. Because the government treats information as power and thus is very secretive and operates in a self-imposed penumbra, information normally spreads by rumor in that country. Although there were rumors aplenty in these past weeks, there was verifiable evidence of the brutality of the suppression of the demonstrations.