October 04, 2007
Free Burma
October 4th is International Bloggers' Day for Burma
If you are in LA, there will be a gathering of people supporting the Burmese people at the Kodak theater this Saturday at 4pm.
Some letters and links to help the cause:
Dear friends,
Our emergency petition to stop the crackdown on peaceful protesters in Burma is exploding, with nearly 500,000 signers from every nation of the world. But the situation in Burma remains desperate, with reports of hundreds of monks being massacred and tortured. Burma's rulers have also killed and expelled international journalists, cutting off global media coverage of their cruelty.
China is still the key - the country with the most power to halt the Burmese generals' reign of terror. We're delivering our message this week with a massive ad campaign in major newspapers, beginning Thursday with a full page ad in the Financial Times worldwide, and in the South China Morning Post. The strength of the ad comes from the number of petition signers listed – can we reach our goal of 1 million signatures this week? The link to sign the petition and view the ad is below, forward this email to all your friends and family!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/u.php
China continues to provide key economic and military support to Burma's dictatorship, but it has been openly critical of the crackdown. Now we need the government to match words with actions. Our ad paints a powerful moment of choice for China in its relationship with the world – will it be a responsible and respected member of the global community, or will it be associated with tyranny and oppression?
People power, on the streets of Burma, and around the world, can triumph over tyranny. Our strength is in our numbers, spread the word!
With hope and determination,
Ricken, Paul, Ben, Graziela, Pascal, Galit and the whole Avaaz team.
For the best local reporting on the situation in Burma, try these links:
http://www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.mizzima.com
Letter from Chevron:
Thank you for your enquiry. Chevron's position regarding its share in the Yadana gas pipeline in Myanmar is available on our website, www.chevron.com - ht tp://www.chevron.com/news/press/
Chevron Statement on Myanmar
Chevron supports the calls for a peaceful resolution to the current situation in Myanmar in a way that respects the human rights of the people of Myanmar. Chevron's minority, non-operated interest in the Yadana project is a long term commitment that will help meet the critical energy needs of millions of people in the region. Our community development programs also help improve the lives of the people they touch and thereby communicate our values, including respect for human rights.
Regards
Chevron Media Team
It's not easy (and possibly unhelpful) to try to make funny of the human abuses going on in the Nation Formerly Known As Burma, but I thought I could look back at a Classical American Icon to help make a point.
PLEASE TELL CHEVRON
AND CHINA TOO
MASSACRING MONKS
IS NOT GOOD TO DO
BURMA-SAVE
@WendellWit.com
Blogged.
(self link obv)
C'mon monkeys! It might be nothing, but it might be something!
Took me 30 seconds. And I'm an idiot.
Me too - - though I rarely post anything on my "blog", this is worth taking a moment to log in, paste, copy, post...
LOLZ - your blog is the same as mine.
Let's make out.
Thanks for posting this, smt. Being a day ahead here I often miss things like that because the publicity occurs on the day.
I'm so on this.
But I hate to be on the same side as Chevron. Makes me suspicious.
Free Burma
...with purchase of two or more Burmas of equal or greater value.
BlueHorse, don't worry. Chevron is definitely not on our side or that of the Burmese people. It's a bullshit response and denial of their involvement there.
From my friend Dave who has been an activist for the Burmese people for over 10 years.
"Chevron finally speaks, October 2nd, and manages to say nothing (here, anyway, but see their list of health stuff on the website)."
Also from Dave
"John McCain has called for Chevron to pull out of Burma. No one has reported it in the news, but it's on his press release on his senate web site. I want to get every Presidential candidate's position on this. "
The www.avaaz.org link wants me to login to Facebook. Since I can't do this, I'll just show up at the NE corner of Hollywood and Orange and shout "MonkeyPoo!"
Or, if I chicken out (I might not, so listen for me, y'all), I'll be the lady waving a bouquet of dead flowers and a cucumber. Name's Meg.
Shit, missed it. And my domain is down, so it wouldn't have made much difference.
Thank you, MonkeyLion.
I knew in my gut it was bullshite.
Get a Free Burma with every subscription to Amnesty International!
Behind the Conflict: a photo-essay.
Burma: 'I resist in my Mind only'
Medical anthropologist Monique Skidmore has conducted field work in Burma for over a decade, carefully probing the ways the State manipulates the emotional life of the Burmese, and the psychological strategies they adopt to survive under a military regime. Fear threads through every conversation and gesture. Also, updates from a health worker in the longstanding refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. The mental health challenges are immense.
Excellent link, homunculus! Thank you for sharing that. That's quite a telling insight...
Oil Giant Chevron Urged to Cut Ties with Burmese Military Junta
Total Denial
Only now, the full horror of Burmese junta's repression of monks emerges
US Court Calls Abuses Committed in Construction of Chevron's Pipeline "Military Terrorism"
Monk Who Led Marchers to Suu Kyi's House Escapes to Thailand
Hong Kong jadeite traders say their clientele doesn't care where stones come from
The export of jadeite from Burma to Hong Kong and China, which has been going on for decades with little media scrutiny, is worth about $433.2 million a year, official figures for 2006 show.
That's 10% of the country's total exports, making jadeite sales vital to the Burmese government.
Stillman: What do you think is the most constructive role that American advocates can play in the pro-democracy struggle? What forms of action or protest would be most helpful?
Maung Maung: There has been a huge amount of moral support from American politicians, but the U.S. government hasn’t fully delivered. Sure, Congress has done a lot, and there is even support from Laura Bush, but we have huge problems with logistics and implementation.
What it really comes down to is money: We need simple things like bicycles and satellite phones. People may laugh, but the movement really needs bicycles. In Burma, fuel is very expensive, so bicycles allow organizers to go around and speak with individuals in different areas.
We also need money for video cameras, digital cameras and cell phones—these things are transforming our movement. It’s by bringing the eyes of the world back to the brutality of the regime that we can win out.
Than Shwe Promises Power Handover
Is Than Shwe’s Pledge Just a Ploy?
From South to South: Burma's Stateless Minority Under the Tip of Globalization's Spear
Cyclone toll climbs and UN aid has yet to reach Burma while the military junta is putting its own survival before its people's.
From the initial reports issued from the junta, saying something like 350 people were killed, I knew this was going to be very bad...
*hugs and prayers to Burma*
Burma Press Conference Turns into Discussion of Bush Daughter's Wedding Plans
‘We are being Prevented from Talking about Burma at UNSC’: French Ambassador
China shows little desire to exert pressure on Burma
But that's hardly a surprise since the Junta Supports China’s Crackdown in Tibet.
Birds of a feather.
In Myanmar, a humanitarian crisis - so why can't the U.N. be more forceful?
Burma: monks vs. junta. Officials move refugees out of monasteries to stem monks' influence.
Time to Invoke ‘Responsibility to Protect’: Burmese Activists
It's almost as though the junta wants to cut the population, drastically, in the worst of wayx,
I think this is more incompetence. They're just desperate to keep things on lockdown to preserve their rule, and have no idea that fucking things up on this scale in the face of such emergency will ultimately backfire. Going way out on a limb here, but I'm guessing the guys running the junta aren't well-read in history.
Oh, really, MCT. Well, have you ever run a junta, Mr. Sarcastic Literary Man? Hmm, have you? NO. I thought not.
Well, I have, and I can tell you, it's no picnic. First, like 80% of the guys mispronounce "junta". Come on! Who will take us seriously if we can't even enunciate what we are!
Second, there's the whole personal hygiene issue. Have you ever raided a village with a few hundred crazed warriors who haven't brushed their teeth in like four or five days? It's hard to keep your lunch down. Don't get me started on the skid mark issue.
It is easy for the armchair diplomat to cry "incompetence", but until you've walked a mile in my jackboots, well, you just don't know what you're talking about.
So just fuck right off, Mr. Middle Class Knownothing.
Military rulers silent on Suu Kyi's detention deadline as donors gather in Myanmar
As Donors Disappear, Cyclone Survivors Fend for Themselves
The Troops Have Arrived at Last, but Where’s the Aid?
Peace Walk for Burma [pdf]
There was an interesting article on Burma in September's Atlantic. If you can make it past the first six paragraphs, it gets much better.
Oddly enough, today a friend sent me a link to a older article in "Outside". The Ghost Road.
During a 2008 interview, Mark Jenkin made this statement:
I think it’s bizarre that we’re in Iraq trying to force democracy down the throats of people who don’t want it, when we could go some place like Burma where the population is dying for democracy and we’ve got a few hundred generals and a few soldiers. And we could turn it over in a matter of a few seconds. So I think that’s very sad. We have our priorities in completely the wrong place.
..we could turn it over in a matter of a few seconds.
Sounds much like Bush 'n' Rummy's "Shock and Awe" scenario.
While I respect Mr. Jenkins's obviously sincere concern for the people of Burma, I don't think that sort of unilateral jingoism is the solution, particularly considering China's interests in the region. As distasteful as China's policies are, they've got more than a few hundred generals and a few soldiers.
The new prez's emphasis on diplomacy and his appreciation of reality are encouraging departures from such ingenuous views.
Still no guarantee that he'll be able to overcome human cussedness though.
Islander, you're quite right in that unilateral jingoism is not a solution. I just wish there were something that would help. Of course, there's a bit of we had our dirty hands in the mess originally...
Cussedness is not the word I'd use for despotic megalomaniac leaders who encourage and condone massacres.
Perhaps Obama can bring clear-sighted, rational, compassionate solutions about. Somehow, I doubt it, given what and who he has to work with here.
The euphemistic title of Amy Tan's book on Burma, Saving Fish from Drowning, might work here. Save the junta from totalitarianism. Even if they must keep a ruling majority by law in this pseudo-democratic covenant, at least they will have have beached themselves upon the shore somehow.
One can hope.
Feds Investigate Transocean's Possible Ties to Burmese Drug Clan
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