Little aid has gotten through to the victims of that cyclone in Burma and just maybe Burma’s junta will allow some aid to actually reach them finally. What is it now, couple weeks.

Britain’s Asia minister said a turning point could be near on a framework to accelerate international aid to the millions needing help after Cyclone Nargis slammed into Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta early this month.

Than Shwe, the reclusive leader of Myanmar’s military junta, made a public appearance on Sunday for the first time in relation to the cyclone aid effort.

Aid has been trickling in for the up to 2.5 million people affected by the cyclone. Myanmar’s military rulers, suspicious of the outside world, have been reluctant to admit major foreign operations and the workers to run them.

At least our leaders don’t waste time making appearances and touring disaster areas. Even China did a better job in that respect. Why does it matter?

If the reclusive military government does not open its doors to a large-scale tsunami-style aid operation, disaster experts say Nargis’s body count could still climb dramatically.

Unacceptable in a world where aid is offered so readily by governments of other nations, NGOs and even the U.N.. I’ve already gotten hit up for aid. The NGOs don’t waste time there even thou it is unlikely it will ever reach those that need it.