BasBasBas.com

Category: activism

  • Free Burma, Mail China

    Found this through Ko Htike’s blog. Please do this! If you’re not too sure about why we’re asking China to take action, please see this post (Why Does Beijing Strongly Support the Myanmar Government?).

    Dear all,
    If you would like to help Myanmar, please help like this.
    With best wishes for you.

    Subject: Burma: Sending a message or two or three or four… to China

    HOW TO HELP BURMA?

    If everybody we know emails a request (not for tickets, but for
    China’s action for Burma) to ” target=”_blank”>, it will
    significantly slow down Olympics ticket sales and call China’s
    attention to the matter. China may ignore protests, hunger strikes,
    petitions, wearing-red shirts, etc. But China cannot ignore these
    emails, which get in the way of processing Olympics ticket requests.

    Please see the template at the bottom. Please also pledge to send the
    same email every 6 hours, or every time you check your email. If they
    get tens of thousands of email a day, they will have to do something
    about it.

    WHY?

    China should use its leverage to bring reconciliation and peace in
    Burma. However, it recently vetoed a Security Council resolution on
    Burma. Yet with the threat of Olympics boycott, China has yielded
    significantly to condemn Sudan’s genocidal regime.

    Please note that this action is NOT a call to boycott the Olympics.
    ============================================

    Send to ” target=”_blank”> every 6 hours, or every time you
    check your email.
    ==================================================

    Subject: re: tickets

    Dear Sirs/Madams,

    I am very interested in purchasing tickets to some of the events at
    next year’s Olympic games.

    However I cannot, in good conscience, attend the Beijing Olympics
    unless your government uses its influence to improve the political
    situation in Burma. China has substantial economic interests in the
    country, provides large amounts of economic aid, and invests heavily
    in infrastructure projects there. Additionally, your government
    provides extensive logistical support to Burma’s military government.
    All this make China uniquely placed to influence it.

    The people of Burma have, in a very peaceful manner, insisted that
    their rights be respected. I ask no more of your government than that
    it cease its support for the current regime, and encourage dialog with
    the democratically elected representatives of the Burmese nation.

    I, the Burmese people, and the world would be grateful for your
    assistance in this matter. Your courage will go a long way towards
    making the 2008 Olympics a success.

    With sincere thanks,

    (your name)

    For a Free Burma! Please Stumble this post!

  • Help Armoede de Wereld Uit (Dutch)

    www.een.nl

  • Taking Action Against Climate Change, the best choice

    In the whole climate change debate (it’s ridiculous it has to be a debate), I decided that the possible cost of NOT taking action, would FAR outweigh the cost of taking action NOW. Actually, what would be so bad about preventing climate change? Living in a cleaner, healthier world? The cities wouldn’t be so filled with smog, there would be less polution, no more oil wars… Sounds a lot better.

    Anyway, the following video argues the same thing, but in a way that’s a bit more digestible than my elaborate theories.

    [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=zORv8wwiadQ]

  • Young idealists… (Free Burma protest in Sofia, Bulgaria)

    Pieter with rosesWell, it wasn’t big.. but at least I did something. The protest had 8 participants, but it’s probably the biggest protest the Chinese embassy has ever seen here in Sofia. As indicated earlier, I decided that it would be a good idea to get red flowers, because I had a feeling our presence would not be very strong. Turned out to be roses, because they were the closest to maroon red we could find. So we went to the Chinese embassy and went onto the steps to place the roses. Immediately a guard came out to ask us what we were doing, tell us not to take pictures and wanted to know if we had any permit to be protesting… Come on, it’s just 8 of us placing roses. So the only picture I have of us at the embassy is 1 second (literally) before that moment and you can see it at the bottom of the post. We stayed around for about half an hour, seeing if anything would happen. We saw some Chinese employee of the embassy looking at us and making a few calls. After a while we decided to leave the rest of the roses for the embassy employees with a note that said “For a free Burma”. Then we left.

    If there is anyone from Bulgarian protest groups reading this, or has any experience (and knows how to get a permit), please contact me.

    Click to enlarge!
    Representing France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Bulgaria.

    Oh, and I realize now that i could use my contacts at the radio and TV next time. Great!

    This proves that everyone can do at least SOMETHING. And it can be fun, I met two new people through it. STUMBLE IT to spread the world!

  • Protest for Burma, Sofia 2007

    Since nobody is taking the initiative, I will. In the hope that people will find this post through Google.

    This is the plan!

    If you care about the situation in Burma at all… Please do the following.

    Go find the Chinese embassy (search: China Embassy on Google Maps), and lay a maroon-red flower there. Preferably between 2 and 3pm today (but if you read this too late, any day will do – I plan to do it once every few days).

    Why maroon-red? It’s the colour of the robes of the Buddhist monks who were imprisoned, tortured, mutilated and killed in Burma.

    Why the Chinese embassy? They’re Burma’s main ally… THEY can do something about this situation, but so far haven’t.

    Why only a flower? Because of the small scale of participation. If we can’t organize a mass of people to come together at the same time… Let’s at least do something.

    The people in Burma were killed and abused while the world was watching. They’re blood’s not only on the junta’s hands, but on the hands of all who failed to act to prevent it. So please, do something!

    If you’re interested in setting something up, please email me at baslife (nospam) gmail – com

    Some news just got out: Injured protesters in Burma are being burned alive!!

  • A Day of International Action for Burma

    Basically it’s like this… remember the first things we heard about Burma, and the images of protesting monks? Well… they’re dead now. Or as good as dead. They’re either dead or facing serious torture, or locked in their pagoda’s (where they store no food). We stood by and watched while this happened. At least I tried to get people active.. but I wonder how people who didn’t even bother to sign the petition feel.

    Tomorrow is your chance. A Day of International Action for Burma (or have a look at the petition link and scroll all the way down for a list of places to go). GO. GO. If there’s anything near where you live you MUST go, you must do something, we must do MORE. There is nothing scheduled here, which really sucks, but I called friends and told them to let people know. I’m probably heading for the Chinese embassy tomorrow at 2pm.

    If you’re googling and you’re reading this.. In front of the Chinese embassy in Sofia! 2PM. I have a feeling not many people will show up, but I can’t let this happen without at least doing something. Had I had more time and known about it earlier, I would’ve set something up properly (maybe I would’ve been able to mobilize a hundred people, who knows), but now it’s too late for that already and I feel sad about it.

    So if you have the chance to join a protest.. DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

    And if China does not intervene… let’s boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics.

  • Free Burma!

    Free Burma!

    Free Burma!

  • Burma: A Global Roar

    From “Ricken Patel – Avaaz.org”

    Dear friends,

    Burma’s generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters — but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks’ color red, and on the internet– where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

    People power can win this. Burma’s powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China’s attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we’ll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven’t already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

    http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php

    The pressure is working – already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

    The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We’re broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let’s do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

    With hope and determination,

    Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

    Let this bit from Wikipedia remind you why it’s so important to sign!

    Colonel Hla Win, a central member of the military junta, is reportedly interested in seeking political asylum in Norway. The colonel is said to have defected recently, and is now hiding in the jungle with rebels of the Karen people. The colonel defected after being ordered to raid two monasteries and detain hundreds of monks. According to the colonel, these monks were to be killed and dumped in the jungle.

    Sign now!

  • Free-burma.org

    The recent crisis in Burma has shown that huge masses of people can be reached through the networks of blogs. Many bloggers dedicated to bringing the truth out have been doing so. They have been the voice of Burma, where it is hard for western news-outlets to report. One of these is Ko Htike (who I recently added to the links), who lives in London, but was able to obtain a lot of underground pictures and other media.

    It looks like the blogs are organising. On the 4th of October, free-burma.org calls on all bloggers and website owners “to refrain from posting to their blogs on October 4 and just put up one Banner then, underlined with the words „Free Burma!“”. Please check out their website now and be a part of this!

    “If you have no website or blog we need you even more: Please help us to spread the word while commenting on other blogs with our message/link, posting on forums, guestbooks and message boards, tell your neighbours, friends or kids and first of all: Sign our list of participants! Furthermore you can visit our Wiki for more information and organisation.

    Spread the word

    Please help to spread the word about the Free Burma! action.
    Comment on blogs to promote our campaign, write website owners and forum admins to inform them, post on forums and guestbooks, tell your whole neighborhood about us. Digg, Technorati, Facebook, Stumble.”

  • Take Action Now! (Update)

    And it gets worse by the day…
    Junta’s crackdown in Burma intensifies
    Internet access ‘cut off’ in attempt to silence Burma

    So basically the monks have dissapeared and nobody really seems to know what happened to them… Maybe we should stop threatening them with sanctions (the junta has lived with sanctions for decades anyway) and start threatening them with something more serious. These sanctions will hurt the people more than it will hurt the government.

    Original post
    Words, words, words, words… Maybe for the first time in a very long time, we have a good reason to intervene and step in. Why are we only sending ONE guy there to ‘monitor’? Isn’t what we’ve seen and heard in the media enough? It’s unacceptable to stand by and let soldiers kill monks… Peaceful monks and also civilians. The UN has to act before it’s too late. NOW.

    If you haven’t, please sign the petition. It takes one minute, so don’t postpone it, do it NOW.

    And then have a look here.

    Developments:
    Myanmar troops threaten gunshot (Reuters)
    10,000 protesters face down Myanmar forces in Yangon (Forbes)
    Burma’s Saffron Revolution (a big explanation)
    Shots fired at Burmese protests in Rangoon (BBC)
    Myanmar troops open fire on protesters, 9 dead (Reuters)

    They’re murdering people! Wake up!

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