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You Didn’t Know They Were Fighting: The Karen National Liberation Army in Myanmar

This news story from 2006 alerted me to a war I didn’t know anybody was fighting: the liberation of Karen State from Myanmar. The KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army) and KNU (Karen National Union) have been fighting for independence since the British left Burma (Myanmar) in 1948. What do you get a 51-year old rebel movement for its birthday? Here are their demands:

  • For us, surrender is out of the question.
  • We shall retain our arms.
  • The recognition of the Karen State must be complete.
  • We shall decide our own political destiny.

When Is Principality of Sealand’s Independence Day?

Principality of Sealand is a WWII-era gunnery platform — called Roughs Tower — in the North Sea, outside Britain’s pre-1968 three nautical mile claim of sovereign waters. Founded by Roy and Joan Bates in 1967, over time, Roy wrote a constitution and named himself and Joan as prince and princess. The Wikipedia article on Sealand […] » about 600 words