Aung San Suu Kyi was the third child in her family. Her name "Aung San" comes from her father, who is also named Aung San; "Kyi" comes from her mother; and "Suu" comes from her grandmother.
Her father helped to make Burma independent from the United Kingdom in 1947. He was killed in the same year. She grew up with her mother, Khin Kyi, and two brothers, Aung San Lin and Aung San Oo in Yangon. One of her brothers, Aung San Lin, drowned when Suu Kyi was eight. Her other brother, Aung San Oo currently lives in San Diego, California and is an American citizen.
Suu Kyi went to Catholic schools for much of her childhood in Burma. She learned English in school.
Khin Kyi, Suu Kyi's mother, became famous as a politician. She became the Burmese ambassador to India in 1960. Aung San Suu Kyi went to college in India at the Lady Shri Ram College for Women in New Delhi. Suu Kyi continued her education at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and learned about philosophy, politics, and economics. She also went to the School of Oriental and African Studies at University of London in the 1980s.
She moved to New York and worked at the United Nations. In 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Michael Aris (1946-1999), a professor of Tibetan culture who lived in Bhutan. She had met Aris when they were both students at Oxford. In 1973, she gave birth to her first son, Alexander, in London; and in 1977 she had her second son, Kim.
Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988 to take care of her sick mother. That year, the long-time leader of the socialist ruling party, General Nay Win, stopped being a politician. Many Burmese people wanted a democracy after the military ruled the country for several years.
She admired Mohandas Gandhi's use of nonviolence. She was also inspired by Buddhism. Aung San Suu Kyi worked for democracy and helped make the National League for Democracy on September 27th 1988.
Because Suu Kyi was fighting against the government, she was asked to leave the country, but she did not.
She was arrested in 1989 and placed in prison in 1990. This was after an election which her party, the National League for Democracy, won, but they were not allowed to be in charge of the country. Between 1990 and 2010, she was almost always in prison or in her home, which is called house arrest. Burma released her in November 2010. Suu Kyi was going to be released in 2009, but when a man was found entering her home, she was kept on house arrest for another year because she had broken the rules of the house arrest.
After she was released from house arrest, she was elected to be State Counsellor. When she was State Counsellor, Burma had serious problems with the genocide of the Rohingya.
When she was asked what democratic models Myanmar could look to, she said: "We have many, many lessons to learn from various places, not just the Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia and Indonesia." She also cited "the eastern European countries, which made the transition from communist autocracy to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s, and the Latin American countries, which made the transition from military governments. "And we cannot of course forget South Africa, because although it wasn't a military regime, it was certainly an authoritarian regime." She added: "We wish to learn from everybody who has achieved a transition to democracy, and also ... our great strong point is that, because we are so far behind everybody else, we can also learn which mistakes we should avoid."
Ranger Uranium Mine
Ranger Uranium Mine is a large uranium deposit in the Kakadu National Park. The uranium is legally owned by the Australian Government, and is sold internationally. This mining, and the presence of uranium in Kakadu have come under controversy, due to the widespread publicity regarding the potential danger of nuclear power and uranium mining.
Kakadu is on the World Heritage List, both for its cultural and natural value, a rare feat because few sites are featured for both reasons.
Nevada Test Site
The Nevada Test Site is an area set aside for the testing of nuclear weapons. It is looked after by the United States Department of Energy. It is in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Las Vegas.
The site was begun on January 11, 1951. It covers an area of 1,350 square miles (3,500 km²) of desert and mountain lands. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a one-kiloton (4 terajoule) bomb. This was the same explosive force as a bomb using 1,000 metric tons of TNT. This bomb was dropped on Frenchman Flat on January 27, 1951. Many of the famous photos of the nuclear age were taken at the Nevada Test Site.
When testing ended in 1992, the Energy Department said that more than 300 million curies of radiation remained, making the site one of the most radioactively contaminated places in the United States.
Napoleon (Animal Farm)
Napoleon is a character in the book Animal Farm. Together with Snowball, he is a boar that Mr. Jones is breeding for sale at the market. Napoleon is the only Berkshire boar on Manor Farm. He is fierce-looking, large, and very stubborn, wanting things to be done his own way. Napoleon is very selfish and only cares about his own good.
Napoleon is based on Stalin of the Russian revolution, who harshly ruled the entire Russia. Napoleon's name is derived from the French conqueror with the same name.
Snowball (Animal Farm)
Snowball is a character in the book "Animal Farm". Like Napoleon, Snowball is a boar raised by Mr. Jones for sale. Unlike Napoleon, Snowball's plans and projects are targeted at improving the quality of Manor Farm. He is a vivacious pig, quick in speech, and a brilliant inventor.
Snowball is based on Trotsky of the Russian revolution, who was exiled by Stalin and the KGB (Stalin's secret police).
Anti-nuclear movement in Australia
Australia has no nuclear power stations and the Rudd Labor government was opposed to nuclear power for Australia. However, Australia does have a small research reactor (OPAL) in Sydney, and it does export uranium.
Uranium mining and export and nuclear issues have often been the subject of public debate, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. It began with the 1972–73 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific, which involved several groups, and the 1976–77 debate about uranium mining in Australia.
The case against nuclear power and uranium mining in Australia has been concerned with the impacts of nuclear energy; with the shortcomings of nuclear power as an energy source; and with presenting a sustainable energy strategy. The most prominent adverse impact of nuclear power is seen to be its potential contribution towards proliferation of nuclear weapons. For example, the 1976 Ranger Inquiry report stated that "The nuclear power industry is unintentionally contributing to an increased risk of nuclear war. This is the most serious hazard associated with the industry".
The health risks associated with nuclear materials have also been of concern. This has been the case worldwide because of incidents like the Chernobyl disaster, but Australian concerns have also involved specific local factors such as controversy over the health effects of nuclear testing in Australia and the South Pacific, and the emergence of prominent anti-nuclear campaigner Helen Caldicott, who is a medical practitioner.
The economics of nuclear power has been a factor in anti-nuclear campaigns, with critics arguing that such power is uneconomical in Australia, particularly given the country's abundance of coal resources.