Mail Call: Myanmar’s military rulers can expect...

Mail Call: Myanmar’s military rulers can expect a package in the mail soon: a collection of writings by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for more than two years. Suu Kyi’s husband, Michael Aris, said in New York Monday he sent “Freedom From Fear and Other Writings” to his wife’s captors “in the sincere hope that they will read the book and hear its message.”

* Lota’s Lot: It’s been a year of nothing but humiliation, says the Humane Society. Lota, a 42-year-old Asian elephant and member of an endangered species, has been in the hands of an Illinois firm that trains animals for circus performances and rides, rather than enjoying her retirement at the Milwaukee Zoo. The society hasn’t been able to get the aging animal back home because it claims there is lax enforcement of the act. “Zoos are dumping ‘unwanted’ animals on circuses and other sideshows” where they undergo “extreme and unnatural training,” the group claims.

* Doggerel: While Congress rushed to end its last session of the year, Sen. William Roth (R-Del.) tried to lighten the House’s grim mood over the economy with a 12-line poem that ends: “Polls all reported rebellion ahead/For Congress, the choice was be quick or be dead/Tax cut talk flew both furious and fast/While in hallowed chambers members sat on their . . . chairs.”

* Stuff It: Has your boss ever denied you a raise because your husband might get jealous? Does he demand that you hand-wash his clothing? Does she listen in on your private phone conversations? Such “fowl” play qualifies him or her as a turkey, says the workers group 9to5 in its National Boss Contest. The group’s job-problem hot line is now taking a break from its serious intent for an annual Thanksgiving dressing-down of supervisors.