Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese peace activist.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese peace activist. Daw Aun San Suu Kyi (nicknamed Dassk) was and is one of the most enigmatic and giving people of all time. She has devoted her entire life to bringing democracy to Burma through peaceful protests and, unfortunately, being jailed under house arrest for a seemingly unlimited number of years.Born in Rangoon, Burma, on June 19, 1949, she was raised in a well to do family. Her father, General Aung San, was a military leader. Her mother Daw Khin Kyi, was appointed as Burma's ambassador to India in 1960, further increasing the family's wealth and political influence. With a good lifestyle, Dassk was eager to be accepted into a good college. During her stay at St. Hugh's College and Oxford University in Britain, she earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree in philosophy, politics, and economics, readying her for her future battles against the government (which she had no premonition of at the time of her college career).Monks Protesting in Burma (Rangoon, Shwedagon pago...In 1972 she married Dr. Michael Aris, a British scholar she met in college. They quickly fell in love and were promptly married. They had 2 children, Alexander and Kim, who both would help her later in life during her imprisonment.Dassk's mother quickly fell ill in March of 1988, and Dassk flew back to Burma to aid her mother. When she arrived, she heard news of student protests against the government, which at the time was very military in it actions: suppressing the people through force. General Ne Win, due to political pressure, resigned from his position as leader of Burma through his presidency in the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSSP). This triggers a strong pro-democratic government movement among the public, but the BSSP had other plans that would soon be put into effect. The military quickly retook power...

Stalwart

Stalwart Stalwart Stalwart By Maeve Maddox A reader asks for clarification regarding the word stalwart: I am confused about the meaning of â€Å"stalwart† in the following context: â€Å"One of the most influential companies in high technology right now may be a 135-year-old industrial stalwart.† According to OED, as a noun, stalwart means â€Å"loyalist, hard-working supporter.† Nonetheless, I fail to grasp the meaning of stalwart qualified by industrial as adjective. As a noun, stalwart has more than one meaning; â€Å"loyal supporter† is only one of them. Stalwart began as an adjective. The Old English adjective stalworth was applied to things like ships to mean â€Å"serviceable.† When applied to people and animals, it meant, â€Å"strongly and stoutly built.† The meaning extended to include brave, courageous, and valiant. In Scots dialect, the word became stalwart and was reintroduced into English thanks to the popularity of the novels of Sir Walter Scott. In modern usage, stalwart functions as both adjective and noun. Adjective As an adjective, stalwart means, resolute, unbending, and determined, as well as brave, courageous, and valiant. For example: The epic valor of the Greeks in driving back the Italian invaders together with Britain’s stalwart resistance to Hitler’s crushing blows, has given new meaning to human courage in war. Her stalwart defense of the environment in Maryland is embodied in her support for building a green jobs workforce, protecting the Chesapeake Bay, and for a clean energy economy. Noun â€Å"A stalwart† can be a person who has achieved wide recognition in some business or pursuit: Hollywood stalwart Ernest Borgnine dies at age 95 Josh H. Groce, a  noted stalwart  of the Texas trial bar Or it can refer to a company or institution that has been in operation for a long time. This is the sense in which stalwart is used in the sentence submitted by the reader. Here are some more examples of this use of stalwart to refer to a company: Sales for the New York-based pharmaceutical stalwart  were $13.56 billion against last years $13.89 billion. The remaining companies experiencing growth last year [included] electronics retailer HHGregg Inc. and pharmaceutical stalwart Eli Lilly and Co. And while many of its architects are well-known Silicon Valley companies, longtime Milwaukee industrial stalwart Rockwell Automation Inc. has positioned itself at the heart of the phenomenon, which some consider the next industrial revolution. Finally, in the context of politics, the noun stalwart means, â€Å"a sturdy uncompromising partisan†: AIPAC lauds re-election of pro-Israel stalwarts First deficit panel picks are Democratic stalwarts Utah is overall a conservative state much in line with the public policy principles of Republican stalwarts like Gov. Mitt Romney, Gov. Michael Leavitt and Gov. Jon Huntsman.   Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Masters Degree or Master's Degree?44 Resume Writing TipsPersonification vs. Anthropomorphism