[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fzt4Q9VCpc]
This doesn’t just go for American students (even though the video addresses them directly), this goes for all of you.
P.S. Update on last weekend coming soon. Probably.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fzt4Q9VCpc]
This doesn’t just go for American students (even though the video addresses them directly), this goes for all of you.
P.S. Update on last weekend coming soon. Probably.
Interessant mailtje in m’n inbox gekregen van Niels:
Beste mensen,Belachelijk dat we in Nederland waar veelal vooruitdenkende mensen wonen, 5 kolencentrales erbij krijgen!
Van deze 5 centrales zal evenveel emissie vrijkomen als van alle auto’s in Nederland samen! De opgewekte energie is alleen om te exporteren. Je vraagt je sterk af waarom we ons niet sec focussen op duurzame energie. Ik verbaas me over de kortzichtigheid van politici en ga aan hun verstand twijfelen (zo ik dat niet al op veel punten deed).

Seems like activists are catching on to the power of web 2.0. I assume most of the readers here are familiar with Avaaz.org and their emails calling on people to sign petitions and send emails to representatives. Their method is rather conventional however and (dare I say) dated.
Good news. Rethos.com has opened up their beta to the public and aim to create a social environment for change, on a system that learns from its users. Users can read, post and share news articles, get organized, find jobs an opportunities, all in the name of change. Whether you care about ecology, human rights, freedom of speech or other issues, Rethos will let users work together for change on these points. I myself signed up because of them saying the following:
It is our duty to not let others turn a blind eye to pressing social and environmental issues. If enough people unite, change is inevitable.
This is exactly the way I felt when I was posting about Burma like 3 times a day (psst… the monks are protesting again). I hope this convinces you and you will sign up and come and add me as a friend. What really did it for me however, was their video. Have a look at it below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcotGwxNlo0]
So sign up now and visit my profile.
A selection from Burmanews‘ postings.
Posted 21 October
Reports say that Junta is arresting students and civilians, who were believed to be involved in International Campaigns against SPDC, on arrival at the Yangon Airport.
Posted 25 October
http://irrawaddy.org/protests/video/ngwekyaryan.php – Video of Ngwe Kyar Yan monastery after troops raided on Sept 27, 2007
Led by comedian Zarganar, who was recently released from prison, a group of Burmese artistes offered alms (food) to 80 monks and 30 nuns at Bar-Ga-Ya monastery. This monastery has been refusing all form of alms from the military junta. Zargarnar and his group of friends will continue to offer alms to all monasteries which refuse to accept anything from the military junta.
(note that the junta forbade people to offer alms to the monks!)
On 23rd Oct, more than 200 people carried out a peaceful protest in Kyar Inn Township of Karen State. They peacefully asked for the release of political prisoners, democracy for Burma and supported the 3-way discussion between DASSK, junta and UN. No action has been taken against them yet.
Posted 28 October
On 26th Oct, there were around 1000 people at Shwe Dagon Pagoda to celebrate the full moon festival. Though there were a lot of soldiers and police, people did not seem to be afraid of them. It seemed that burmese people are ready for another wave of events towards freedom for Burma.
Posted 30 October
The words, “Killer Than Shwe”, was written on the Pagoda Road near to a police station with white paints in ZeeGone Township (which is on Yangon-Pyay Highway), Bago Division. Papers with the words, “Killer Than Shwe”, was also found. Later, police took photo and destroyed the words.
Please take a second to Stumble this post and make sure to visit Burmanews and Stumble + Bookmark it. Keep the attention on this, if we don’t… the Burmese people will have suffered in vain!
Rumsfeld flees France fearing arrest
Sat, 10/27/2007 – 08:45Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of “ordering and authorizing” torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military’s detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.
US embassy officials whisked Rumsfeld away yesterday from a breakfast meeting in Paris organized by the Foreign Policy magazine after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against the man who spearheaded President George W. Bush’s “war on terror” for six years.
Under international law, authorities in France are obliged to open an investigation when a complaint is made while the alleged torturer is on French soil.
According to activists in France, who greeted Rumsfeld shouting “murderer” and “war criminal” at the breakfast meeting venue, US embassy officials remained tight-lipped about the former defense secretary’s whereabouts citing “security reasons”.
Anti-torture protesters in France believe that the defense secretary fled over the open border to Germany, where a war crimes case against Rumsfeld was dismissed by a federal court. But activist point out that under the Schengen agreement that ended border checkpoints across a large part of the European Union, French law enforcement agents are allowed to cross the border into Germany in pursuit of a fleeing fugitive.
“Rumsfeld must be feeling how Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down,” activist Tanguy Richard said. “He may never end up being hanged like his old friend, but he must learn that in the civilized world, war crime doesn’t pay.”
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the French League for Human Rights (LDH) filed the complaint on Thursday after learning that Rumsfeld was scheduled to visit Paris.
From: wor.ldne.ws
Great to see achievements popping up left and right through activism. “The time is always right to do what’s right” – MLK
In Mawlamyaing, SPDC (government) asked the people to show support for their national reconciliation by making it compulsory for each household to send someone to attend. During the event, it started to rain and the people (mainly teachers) refused to go down to field arena and continued sitting at their seats. They also refused to say out the propaganda slogans. Soon after the event started, many people left the event and even threw away the flags on their way out.
From: Burmanews
Good to read this. Don’t forget people! Media attention is declining. Keep your eyes on the situation. Inform yourself! Keep other people’s attention on it. If we don’t forget, governments around the world will be forced to make a decision.
Just in case you haven’t taken action against the Dutch government’s plans to ban mushrooms yet.
Click the picture to go to RedDePaddo.nl (picture courtesy of: paddoverbodnee.nl).
So it appears that they set up a way to protest the Dutch government’s decision to ban ‘magic mushrooms’. On RedDePaddo.nl there is an email you can sign which is automatically sent to the parliament and ministers. Apparently Monday afternoon, 10,000 people had signed it already… Tuesday morning, this was 20,000!
They’re taking more initiatives than just that, so be sure to check out their website. At least SEND AN EMAIL! They also give a bunch of great reasons why these mushrooms should not be banned:
If I could think of one word by which I could express all the thoughts and feelings about Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia University… I would probably not speak it, since I’d be too busy explaining people the meaning of life.
It’s just a bit overwhelming really… Let’s just take some of the things we’ve seen in the last 2 days or so.
– “Evil has landed“, very coloured headlines from US media, simply indicating how ‘balanced’ US media is;
– The awfully unprofessional and disrespectful introduction given by the Dean;
– Ahmadinejad reversing the terrorist issue, which I must say was a good point, but a half truth;
– Ahmadinejad actually making good points, such as calling for a referendum and explaining why Iran opposes the US (he did not deny that the Iran was aiding “terrorists” (defined by the US, NATO & a group of UN countries));
– The opportunity of hearing the opinion and views of a majority of the people in the Middle East when it comes to international affairs, and the way American and a lot of other international media simply refused to listen to this opinion;
– The threat of cutting public funding to Columbia University for letting this man speak.. I have nothing to say about this;
It just shows how caught up and fueled we are by propaganda and double-standards. The following is from an article of the Columbia Journalist: “Ahmadinejad made a mockery of the freedom of expression,” said Ari Gardner, a 22-year old student. “He took every single accusation against Iran and lodged it against the U.S. and the western world.”
Of course, dipshit. Has Iran attacked the U.S. before? No. Has the U.S. attacked Iran before? Yes. They have a very different view about current affairs than we do. By turning this around, he points it out, but by being so caught up in this whole “War on Terror” (what happened to “ism”?) you refuse to see the point. Actually, the “war on terror” is a perfect example of Orwellian psychology. Doesn’t war cause terror? Isn’t terror part of war? How can you fight against fighting?
The U.S. is the biggest defender of democracy and freedom, yet in the country itself, laws like the Patriot Act or other terrorism-related laws are breaking down freedom bit by bit from all sides possible. And democracy… Don’t start. The UN should have stepped in during the previous elections, because some strange things were going down. Exactly the type of things the international community sends UN observers to developing countries or former dictatorships for. U.S. democracy is run by money, friends and networks. The U.S. democracy is no better than Iran’s and I’m sure that if they could, these self-righteous, conservative, let’s-use-Jesus-as-an-excuse Republicans would love to execute homosexuals. I bet they envy Ahmadinejad.
So now I’m probably ‘abusing’ or ‘making a mockery’ out of freedom of speech, because I speak my mind freely, which is not what some people want. It seems like freedom of speech is only extended to those that have the least necessity for it. If there was no freedom of speech, they would be the only ones speaking.
It’s time for a change. Not through violence, but through courage and non-violence. Just look at the Burmese monks. Civil disobedience. Just stop taking the crap, just refuse. Don’t fight.
Holy shit, two police officers just came into my office… No idea what they were saying, it was in Bulgarian.. Something about “preventive” and “computers”. Maybe reading 1984 spooked me, but damn that’s scary when you’re typing a post like this. Wooh! Adrenaline rush, haha. I don’t know where I was going with the post, but I guess this is a good ending.
… and protect your liberties.
Below are two videos of a student being tasered at a question & answer session with John Kerry. It’s ridiculous how everyone just stands by and does nothing… Seeing this makes my blood boil, I must say. Even though the kid’s an Alex Jones wannabe, who’s not a good idol to want to be.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=iqAVvlyVbag]
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=7NWukZhsiBw]
This is why I don’t want to set foot on American soil.