Read This Now - What's Up With Burma?

It suddenly seems that Myanmar has caught a case of detente; long time political prisoners are being freed, Secretary Clinton is making visits, and the President is getting ready to appoint an ambassador.  I sure don't know what it all means but I'm willing to see it as an improvement over the status quo and the potential emergence of one of the most isolated regimes and peoples in the world today.

Joshua Hammer has a good run down on what's been going on and what it all might mean and how big of a grain of salt you should take these developments with...

[T]he new president was dismissed by many Burmese as the latest in a long line of opaque and isolationist rulers. Instead, after a tumultuous few months, some are already comparing him to Mikhail Gorbachev and F.W. De Klerk: the ultimate party insider who is using his institutional power to lead his country in a progressive, and potentially revolutionary, new direction. 

That assessment of Thein Sein may be premature. But the sweep of change has so far been breathtaking.

Whether Sein is Myanmar's Gorbachev remains to be seen, but here's hoping things keep progressing.  Make sure to read the whole thing to get a handle on exactly what's been happening so far.

And now I have a craving for some Burmese food...