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Honour Aung San Suu Kyi
Aug. 12th, 2009 06:40 pmYou people know how I feel about Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese "government". Go sign a petition to the UN Security Council. It takes seconds.
More from the Avaaz.org email: ( Read more... )
More from the Avaaz.org email: ( Read more... )
Important Announcement
May. 14th, 2009 12:03 amApparently I haven't posted my exam timetable yet, as people keep asking me about it. This is probably because I've been too tired to write the fairly minimal amount of HTML required to make a table happen. So have random text instead:
21st May - Photochemistry and Concerted Reactions - afternoon
27th May - Atomic and Mass Spectrometry - morning
1st June - Biological Chemistry I - afternoon
4th June - Biological Chemistry II - morning
8th June - Transition Metal and Organometallic Chemistry - morning
The worst ones are 21st May and 4th June because they're the most difficult subjects. All the exams are the same length - 2 hours (plus 30 minutes extra time, which believe me I will be using).
Eurgh, I feel stressed now just looking at the list.
And to make this less pointlessly self-centred - if I had ANY spoons at all left, I would be outside the Burmese embassy with a placard again. Burma's Suu Kyi 'to be charged'. Like she arranged it? Argh.
Part of me is thinking I should ditch the bloody exams and go for the embassy protest anyway :/
21st May - Photochemistry and Concerted Reactions - afternoon
27th May - Atomic and Mass Spectrometry - morning
1st June - Biological Chemistry I - afternoon
4th June - Biological Chemistry II - morning
8th June - Transition Metal and Organometallic Chemistry - morning
The worst ones are 21st May and 4th June because they're the most difficult subjects. All the exams are the same length - 2 hours (plus 30 minutes extra time, which believe me I will be using).
Eurgh, I feel stressed now just looking at the list.
And to make this less pointlessly self-centred - if I had ANY spoons at all left, I would be outside the Burmese embassy with a placard again. Burma's Suu Kyi 'to be charged'. Like she arranged it? Argh.
Part of me is thinking I should ditch the bloody exams and go for the embassy protest anyway :/
the latest Avaaz.org petitions
Mar. 24th, 2009 01:56 amAvaaz.org have a couple of campaigns running at the moment which are personally meaningful to me.
Petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: Free Burma's Pro-Democracy Prisoners. I support all campaigns for human rights in Burma as much as my energy levels/spoons will allow; which unfortunately is not all that much.
Petition to Pope Benedict: Help Us Prevent AIDS. I had been going to write a rant about the Pope and why I personally think he's wrong, but I haven't found the energy yet.
One of the things I like about Avaaz.org is that once you've signed up, signing a petition is as easy as entering your email address and clicking "SEND". It takes roughly 10 seconds, which is great for those of us who care a lot but have little energy or time. A second thing I like is that the regular emails they send you about new petitions include a large number of internet links, so you can check what they say against relatively unbiased sources such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International etc., as well as reports from the New York Times, BBC News, The Guardian, the Washington Post, CNN etc.
I'm not sure I want to spam you by posting the full text of the emails here, but I can forward them to anyone who desperately wants the links (email my livejournal address).
Petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: Free Burma's Pro-Democracy Prisoners. I support all campaigns for human rights in Burma as much as my energy levels/spoons will allow; which unfortunately is not all that much.
Petition to Pope Benedict: Help Us Prevent AIDS. I had been going to write a rant about the Pope and why I personally think he's wrong, but I haven't found the energy yet.
One of the things I like about Avaaz.org is that once you've signed up, signing a petition is as easy as entering your email address and clicking "SEND". It takes roughly 10 seconds, which is great for those of us who care a lot but have little energy or time. A second thing I like is that the regular emails they send you about new petitions include a large number of internet links, so you can check what they say against relatively unbiased sources such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International etc., as well as reports from the New York Times, BBC News, The Guardian, the Washington Post, CNN etc.
I'm not sure I want to spam you by posting the full text of the emails here, but I can forward them to anyone who desperately wants the links (email my livejournal address).
political animal
Sep. 29th, 2007 07:32 pmBack from today's Burma protest. I, er, might be in the Sunday Mirror tomorrow. Looking exhausted with messy hair. I hope they don't misquote me too badly.
There will be a protest march tomorrow, starting from Trafalgar Square and marching to the Burmese Embassy near Green Park. Participants are asked to meet at Trafalgar Square at 11.30am for a 12 noon start. I will be tricycling with protest banners as there's no way I can walk that far. If you can't manage the march, please consider coming to the Embassy at around 1pm. It is very important to register your disgust with what's happening in Burma. Yesterday's news involved the military shooting at school children. In what world is it okay for armed soldiers to shoot unarmed children? What kind of regime gives those sort of criminal orders?
There are further demonstrations all week. Please consider giving up your lunch hour to shout outside the Burmese Embassy, 12-1pm every day. Apparently on Monday we're going to Downing Street from 2.30-3pm as well.
There will be a protest march tomorrow, starting from Trafalgar Square and marching to the Burmese Embassy near Green Park. Participants are asked to meet at Trafalgar Square at 11.30am for a 12 noon start. I will be tricycling with protest banners as there's no way I can walk that far. If you can't manage the march, please consider coming to the Embassy at around 1pm. It is very important to register your disgust with what's happening in Burma. Yesterday's news involved the military shooting at school children. In what world is it okay for armed soldiers to shoot unarmed children? What kind of regime gives those sort of criminal orders?
There are further demonstrations all week. Please consider giving up your lunch hour to shout outside the Burmese Embassy, 12-1pm every day. Apparently on Monday we're going to Downing Street from 2.30-3pm as well.
Transcript of this audio presentation.
Britain's ambassador in Rangoon, Mark Canning, told the BBC's World at One programme of emotional times in Burma, 2007-09-26
Britain's ambassador in Rangoon, Mark Canning, told the BBC's World at One programme of emotional times in Burma, 2007-09-26
British ambassador Mark Canning: Today has been an extraordinary day, a very emotional day. We've again had thousands of people marching despite a very heavy security presence. The day opened with a show of force from the government. There were troops stationed around town and in certain areas, we had further arrests overnight, a curfew was put into effect, and the question then was whether the demonstrators would be intimidated off the streets or if they would continue, and despite tear gas being used against a number of the monks, and a number of people being quite severely beaten, they have persisted in their demonstration, they have marched in big columns, throughout various areas of the city. At one point we had almost 10,000 of them outside this Embassy, there was a nucleus of monks, and it's the monks that have led this from the outside, perhaps a thousand monks, with probably 8 or 9,000 civilians, many women, many students. They were entirely peaceful, er, they stopped - many of them outside this embassy and cheered, er, they were being followed by 4 military trucks but the military did not stop them marching. Clearly there's been some serious and disturbing violence today as I said, monks were beaten, there were a number of volleys of gunshots above the heads of the demonstrators, and reports of one death, but we haven't been able to confirm that but, um, the marchers have persisted as I've said.
( Read more... )
Transcript of this video. Article about it.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaking about Burma, 2007-09-26
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaking about Burma, 2007-09-26
Gordon Brown: The world is now watching Burma, and this illegitimate and oppressive regime which should know that the whole world is going to hold it to account, and that the age of impunity for neglecting and overriding human rights is over. I want to pay tribute to the courage, and the resilience, and the bravery of the Burmese people, and of Aung San Suu Kyi, who everybody around the world admires. And as a result of the deterioration of the situation, I think there are three things that have got to be done immediately. The European Council will be meeting at official level immediately, and I believe that they will decide that if there is action taken against human rights, that there will be an extension of sanctions and I hope that the whole of the European Union will support that. At the same time, I hope the Security Council will meet immediately, meet today, discuss this issue, and look at what can be done - and the first thing that can be done is that the UN Envoy should be sent to Burma, and I hope he's in a position to go, to make sure that the Burmese regime directly is aware that any trampling of human rights that takes place will have the whole eyes of the world upon them, and will not be acceptable in future. The human rights of the Burmese people are first and foremost in our minds.
( Read more... )
Riot police attacking monks.
Sep. 26th, 2007 07:11 pmThe news from Burma continues to be crap. Now riot police are attacking the monks with gunfire and tear gas. Video.
The Burmese Government's official statement is nauseating to me, as a free person in the Western world. It reads like something from 1984.
The inspiring thing in this is how modern technology is helping to get the news of what's happening to the outside world, despite the appalling state censorship. While less than 1% of the Burmese people have access to the internet, those that do are making use of it. I don't know if you've noticed how many of the photos and videos that have reached mainstream news reports were shot on mobile phone cameras. However, it appears that the military junta are now trying to crack down on this unofficial reporting - bandwidth is being severely restricted and phone lines are being cut. The police are destroying any cameras that they find. Videos that have been emailed to the BBC.
More background information:
Burma's saffron army. Explains why monks command such respect in Burma.
Burma vs Myanmar. Why the country is not known in the US and UK by its official name.
In pictures: Mood darkens.
The Burmese Government's official statement is nauseating to me, as a free person in the Western world. It reads like something from 1984.
The inspiring thing in this is how modern technology is helping to get the news of what's happening to the outside world, despite the appalling state censorship. While less than 1% of the Burmese people have access to the internet, those that do are making use of it. I don't know if you've noticed how many of the photos and videos that have reached mainstream news reports were shot on mobile phone cameras. However, it appears that the military junta are now trying to crack down on this unofficial reporting - bandwidth is being severely restricted and phone lines are being cut. The police are destroying any cameras that they find. Videos that have been emailed to the BBC.
More background information:
Burma's saffron army. Explains why monks command such respect in Burma.
Burma vs Myanmar. Why the country is not known in the US and UK by its official name.
In pictures: Mood darkens.
What I have in my head
Sep. 26th, 2007 06:06 pmMoses went up to the mountain high
To find out from God why did you make us, why?
Secret words in a secret room
He said a wop bop a lu bop a lop bam boom
I did not put you here to suffer
No, I did not put you here to whine
I put you here to love one another
And to get out and have a good time
Let my people go-go-go
You're gonna let my people go-go-go
Let my people go-go-go
You've got to let my people go
YouTube video.
To find out from God why did you make us, why?
Secret words in a secret room
He said a wop bop a lu bop a lop bam boom
I did not put you here to suffer
No, I did not put you here to whine
I put you here to love one another
And to get out and have a good time
Let my people go-go-go
You're gonna let my people go-go-go
Let my people go-go-go
You've got to let my people go
YouTube video.
Latest Burmese news is worse.
Sep. 25th, 2007 10:51 pmCurrently, this is the top story on the BBC's news site: Burma's military leaders have imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the main cities Rangoon and Mandalay. Armed troops have now been deployed. As well as the night-time curfew there is also a ban on "gatherings of more than 5 people".
Whatever else may be wrong with George W Bush, I approve of his current stance. He has said that the US is "outraged" by Burma's human rights record and announced further sanctions.
Sanctions from the US are, however, unlikely to have much influence without China and India, Burma's main trading partners getting involved. China has remained largely silent about the current protests. However, with next year's Olympics taking place in Beijing, the Chinese government has something of a dilemma.
Links:
New photos of the protests.
This launches a media player to watch President Bush speak on the subject (about 5 1/2 minutes in).
This launches a media player to watch footage of the protests.
What can you do?
Whatever else may be wrong with George W Bush, I approve of his current stance. He has said that the US is "outraged" by Burma's human rights record and announced further sanctions.
Sanctions from the US are, however, unlikely to have much influence without China and India, Burma's main trading partners getting involved. China has remained largely silent about the current protests. However, with next year's Olympics taking place in Beijing, the Chinese government has something of a dilemma.
Links:
New photos of the protests.
This launches a media player to watch President Bush speak on the subject (about 5 1/2 minutes in).
This launches a media player to watch footage of the protests.
What can you do?
- Pray / send positive energy / thoughts for strength. It might sound sappy, but it could help.
- Tell other people what is happening. Link to the BBC or Wikipedia or other relatively unbiased news sources.
- US people: Write to your senators or state representatives to let them know you are pleased with the decision for sanctions. (This will work especially well if both you & your state representative are non-Bush supporters normally.)
- UK people: Contact your MP to register your concern for the situation and request the Government speak out/impose sanctions against the military junta. Find out who your MP is & get their email address.
Real-life news: The situation in Burma.
Sep. 25th, 2007 12:41 amI don't often make political posts, let alone posts about the politics of another country. But the situation in Burma makes all the trivial day-to-day crap of my life seem entirely unimportant.
I doubt many of you know much about Burma - as far as you're concerned, it's a random country in Asia, sandwiched between India and Thailand. The reason you won't know much about it is that it's governed by a military junta in a similar situation to North Korea. The current Burmese government seized power in a coup in 1962 and refused to yield that power to the winners of the only free and fair election in 1990. There has not been another election since, because the government knows that the people do not want it in charge. The woman who should be President of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest despite being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
The official name of the country, by the way, has been Myanmar (pronounced Me-ANN-mar) since 1989, but Burmese peace activists refuse to use that name as it was chosen by the military government. There are complicated issues and ethnic tensions surrounding the name, as there are numerous distinct "tribes" of people, of whom the principal are the Burmese, the Shan and the Karen. If you're at all familiar with the difficult politics in Eastern Europe following the collapse of Communism, the way that ethnic groups with different cultures and religions had been lumped together into one country - that's not entirely unlike the situation in Burma.
Daily life in Burma is atrocious - the BBC ran a series of articles about life Inside Burma last year. Ordinary people dare not speak out - the prize for doing so is "disappearance". The only people who can safely organise any sort of protest are the Buddhist monks. Monks are greatly revered within Burma so cannot easily be made to "disappear" - though they may face arrest and beatings from the military police.
The current wave of protests started when the government increased the price of fuel in August. The price of petrol and diesel doubled, while the price of compressed gas - used to power buses - increased five times. When ordinary people can barely afford to live as it is, an increase in the cost of transport will leave people in desperate straits. Transport is necessary to take people to work and school and to carry staple food products around the country.
Initial reports were good. The government did not respond to last week's protests. On Saturday, monks were allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. Sunday's march was the largest in 20 years. I'd hoped this would become the first ever completely peaceful overthrow of government. (There's something to be said about Buddhist monks leading a non-violent revolution.)
However, today's news is this: the military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against the monks and other protesters.
If you are a praying sort of person, pray for the situation. Pray for a peaceful stepping down of the military regime and restoration of a fair and democratic government. If you aren't a praying sort of person, send energy or positive thoughts. And whether you are religious or not, tell other people what is happening so they can pray or send energy or positive thoughts. (Yes, of course you may link to my post.)
As far as I know, there is still no safe way to send aid into the country. If you send money, it gets taken by the government to fund their projects, like randomly building a new state capital. All we can send is hope and strength for the people.
I doubt many of you know much about Burma - as far as you're concerned, it's a random country in Asia, sandwiched between India and Thailand. The reason you won't know much about it is that it's governed by a military junta in a similar situation to North Korea. The current Burmese government seized power in a coup in 1962 and refused to yield that power to the winners of the only free and fair election in 1990. There has not been another election since, because the government knows that the people do not want it in charge. The woman who should be President of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest despite being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
The official name of the country, by the way, has been Myanmar (pronounced Me-ANN-mar) since 1989, but Burmese peace activists refuse to use that name as it was chosen by the military government. There are complicated issues and ethnic tensions surrounding the name, as there are numerous distinct "tribes" of people, of whom the principal are the Burmese, the Shan and the Karen. If you're at all familiar with the difficult politics in Eastern Europe following the collapse of Communism, the way that ethnic groups with different cultures and religions had been lumped together into one country - that's not entirely unlike the situation in Burma.
Daily life in Burma is atrocious - the BBC ran a series of articles about life Inside Burma last year. Ordinary people dare not speak out - the prize for doing so is "disappearance". The only people who can safely organise any sort of protest are the Buddhist monks. Monks are greatly revered within Burma so cannot easily be made to "disappear" - though they may face arrest and beatings from the military police.
The current wave of protests started when the government increased the price of fuel in August. The price of petrol and diesel doubled, while the price of compressed gas - used to power buses - increased five times. When ordinary people can barely afford to live as it is, an increase in the cost of transport will leave people in desperate straits. Transport is necessary to take people to work and school and to carry staple food products around the country.
Initial reports were good. The government did not respond to last week's protests. On Saturday, monks were allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. Sunday's march was the largest in 20 years. I'd hoped this would become the first ever completely peaceful overthrow of government. (There's something to be said about Buddhist monks leading a non-violent revolution.)
However, today's news is this: the military junta has warned it is ready to "take action" against the monks and other protesters.
If you are a praying sort of person, pray for the situation. Pray for a peaceful stepping down of the military regime and restoration of a fair and democratic government. If you aren't a praying sort of person, send energy or positive thoughts. And whether you are religious or not, tell other people what is happening so they can pray or send energy or positive thoughts. (Yes, of course you may link to my post.)
As far as I know, there is still no safe way to send aid into the country. If you send money, it gets taken by the government to fund their projects, like randomly building a new state capital. All we can send is hope and strength for the people.
