New York (CBS)  -- BRINGING AID TO MYANMAR AMID ROADBLOCKS
 

An American cargo plane has delivered some supplies to Myanmar, after prolonged discussion with the military regime.  The junta is telling all the foreign agencies the same thing.

"What they have said to us is, they will allow local NGOs or locally-based NGOs to distribute the food and the assistance but they won't take the international expertise," said James East with World Vision in Bangkok, Thailand.

In other words...

"They've said, 'We can have your aid but no people," said James East.

David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, says what is happening in Myanmar is this.

"A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of what I'd describe as the malign neglect of the regime," said David Miliband.
 
It's been more than a week now, since the devastating cyclone hit Myanmar.

"We think the first seven to ten days is very critical," said Steven Kess with Henry Schein, a medical supply giant and corporate donor.

Sixty million dollars in provisions still waits in the California warehouse of Direct Relief International.

"The challenge now is the government's receptivity or really, reluctance to receiving outside assistance," said a Representative with Direct Relief International.

The United States has so far committed 3.2 million dollars through the Agency for International Development.

"We always start off, you know, not small but certainly with what we know we can distribute immediately.  Because we've got to figure out who the partners are and what capabilities they have on the ground," said Michael Hess, Assistant Administrator at U.S. AID.

Meanwhile on the ground, according to Allen Pizzey in Thailand...

"The pictures that have come in to us from sources that we have inside Myanmar show horrific scenes of bodies floating in the rivers, trapped in the trees.  There's no dry land in many places to bury them on.  And the people of Myanmar, their religion doesn't really encourage them to pick up bodies of people who they don't know, because it's assumed you'll get bad luck from their spirit," said Allen Pizzey.

WEST VIRGINIA READIES FOR ITS PRIMARY TURN

Some of West Virginia's convention delegates will be elected in tomorrow's Democratic presidential primary. The others are the superdelegates, like Ralph Dawson.

"I remain uncommitted at this point," said Ralph Dawson.

He's resisting the pressure to commit himself now.

"I think we wait to the end, and then we see where we are...," said Ralph Dawson.

It won't be long, he says.

"It's almost over.  It's not quite over.  Although one candidate does have the upper hand, the other candidate has run very well. So, I think it's appropriate that the candidates complete the process," said Ralph Dawson.

West Virginia's Governor Joe Manchin, also a superdelegate, agrees.

"We're excited that the primaries are still continuing.  We are very excited.  Let's let them all have their primaries, and I think by June we'll come together very quickly," said Governor Joe Manchin.
 
Congressman and superdelegate Donald Payne of New Jersey doesn't want to wait even a month.

"Let's just keep our eyes on the prize.  And so, I would hope that this next month will not be a time where we have the slugging and so forth at the last minute," said Rep. Donald Payne.

So, he is already committed...

"I firmly believe now that Senator Obama is truly the person that can lead this country," said Rep. Donald Payne.

Says Obama...

"I think it's an encouraging sign that our campaign's making progress and that superdelegates are moving in our direction," said Sen. Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois.

He's already campaigning against John McCain.

"He has decided to run for George Bush's third term and that is something that should unify all Democrats.  We can't afford another four years of George Bush policies," said Sen. Barack Obama.

But, campaigning in West Virginia ... not so fast, says Hillary Clinton.

"My favorite message was from a woman named Angela.  'Keep strong,' she said. 'It's not over until the lady in the pants suit says it is," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, Democrat of New York.

THE PROMISE OF PAPER BATTERIES


Batteries tend to weigh a lot, and they are the most clunky part of the electronic equipment they power. But what if a battery could be developed that was essentially a piece of paper, that you could bend or twist or trim with scissors, into practically any shape you want?

They've got a prototype of such a thing right now at RPI, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.  

It's only a few inches square.  But what if it could be made bigger and you could layer sheets one on the other? 

What if you could print batteries like a newspaper? Cheap, light, flexible.

The idea is full of what ifs, according to the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

One group of students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was working on methods to dissolve paper and cast it into membranes for use in dialysis machines. 

Another group there was trying to make carbon nanotube composites, using polymers. 

It occurred to somebody that what one group came up with a thin sheet black on one side and white on the other looked like an electrical device. 

The two groups started working together and saw that paper could be used instead of the polymers.  And they produced this piece of paper that was, in effect, a battery.  Not a combination of pieces, but an integrated device. 

The paper is infused with electrolytes and carbon nanotubes. 

The carbon nanotubes form electrodes, and the electrolyte allows the current to flow. 

The National Science Foundation and New York State's Office of Science and Technology have been funding this project and who knows where it will lead?  

Some day you might be using a paper battery yourself and taking it quite for granted.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE WHITE HOUSE


It is only the 12th of May, and the Democratic National Convention isn't until August but the delegate counting that used to be done at the convention is already under way,including the superdelegate counting. 

Some Democrats are worried that if Hillary Clinton doesn't throw in the towel right now in the name of unity, the worst might happen: the party's presidential nominee might have to be decided at the convention.

Excuse me, but isn't that what the nominating conventions are supposed to be for?  

This year, it seems a funny thing happened on the way to the White House.  There's no there there.

Election campaigns and conventions used to be full of excitement and spontaneity.

Nowadays, they want the convention to be like the Super Bowl, except that there's no game. 

Big endless pregame show, spectacular halftime show, lots of postgame discussion but no game, no contest. 

And then they wonder why the networks aren't giving the conventions the wall-to-wall coverage they used to.  When there's no game, no contest, no spontaneity, there's basically nothing to cover. 

It's becomes one big slickly produced and choreographed infomercial. 

I've put together a new book about the election campaigns from 1948 to 2004, which I've titled "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House" about some of the funny things that were said and done in each of them. 

Ronald Reagan saying, "It was easier being President when I was a boy, there were only 13 states." 

Adlai Stevenson noting, "I've been tempted to make a proposal to our Republican friends:  that if they stop telling lies about us, we would stop telling truth about them." 

And Morris Udall saying, after a primary loss made him drop out:  "The people have spoken ... the bastards."  

I don't know if was any better back then, but it was funnier.