This guy is PISSED OFF. What he says is amazingly true though. By the way:
This post is really all about this video though, so check it out:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_w4AfflmeM]
[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.
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!
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).
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!
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.
Anyone else have the feeling that society’s crumbling?
Dollar hits new low against euro (BBC)
The US dollar hit a new record low against the euro as investors sold the currency after the Federal Reserve’s hefty interest rate cut.
Soaring prices add to Afghan misery (BBC)
As the residents of Kabul prepare to break their fast at the end of the day, the street markets in the centre of the city are as busy as ever. But this year, during the holy month of Ramadan, there is a real struggle to make ends meet.
The price of basic food and fuel has soared in recent months, putting enormous strain on consumers.
Burmese monks in pagoda protest (BBC)
On Wednesday, hundreds of monks marched through Sittwe, Mandalay and Rangoon. They want a government apology for the violent break-up of a recent rally, triggered by protests over price rises. There have been persistent protests across Burma since shock fuel price rises last month, which have led to a sharp rise in the price of consumer goods.
Gazans stock up after Israel decides on sanctions (AFP)
Gazans stocked up on food and fuel on Thursday as Israel faced a barrage of criticism over its decision to brand Hamas-run Gaza a “hostile entity” and possibly cut its basic supplies.
