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Tag: activism
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DO SOMETHING
[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. -
Activism meets Web 2.0
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.
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What’s going on in Burma?
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!
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This put a smile on my face…
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
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Abbie Hoffman said…
“The sixties. No matter what people think about the sixties. They know that young people were out in the streets, taking on the most powerful government in the world. And we didn’t win every battle. But think about what we did accomplish. Apartheid was driven out of America. We ended legal segregation. We ended the idea that you could send a million soldiers ten thousand miles away to fight some evil unjust war. We ended the idea that women are second-class citizens. And we were reckless, we were silly, arrogant and headstrong. We were right… And we didn’t mind saying so. My government has been trying to silence me my whole life. I don’t know what it is about my ideas that is so dangerous. But I say to you, you young people and to you, my, that’s my son here. It’s always the young that made change. You don’t get these kind of ideas when you’re middle-aged. The young have daring creativity and energy. They have impatience… So you take your young legs and your eagerness and your natural feelings for justice and peace and a better deal for our planet and you go out… and you make tomorrow better than it is today. You go out, and you save your country. It’s your turn now.”
Please have a look at “Steal This Movie” on Google Video. This is the biographical film on Abbie Hoffman, a legendary protest organizer. Watch it now or bookmark it so you can see it later. You can also see it below.
[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5858962939917432628]
Let’s stop waiting for the next Malcolm X, MLK, Abbie Hoffman, whatever. Stop your excuses. Listen to Abbie’s words, listen to their words… “It’s your turn now”. You think they were waiting for someone to come along to lead them, as if they were livestock? No. They were more human than most of us. ACT.
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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.”
