Support The Monks' Protest In Burma

Thank you for standing up with Daw Suu and standing by the people of #Burma who are unable to stand up and speak out for themselves! Please continue to spread the word and encourage others to do the same to ensure that military junta in #Burma releases her from illegitimate detention on November 13th, where she has spent last 15 years under house arrest…on Wednesday.

If you believe in Peace, Human Rights and Democracy,
If you believe that Nonviolence Resistance is the weapon of the Strong,
If you believe in Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and AUNG SAN SUU KYI…
Then, you must believe in changing your profile picture to our “We Stand With Daw Aung San Suu Kyi” lo...go until November 13, 2010 - and assure 517,760,460 Facebook users do the same!
Please also urge your local, state, national and international leaders/officials to take any possible actions to pressure Burma’s military regime to ensure the release of our Peaceful, Nonviolent and democratically elected leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on November 13, 2010.

In Solidarity,
~Team BGAN (www.Burma-Network.com)

Read all about her on my Aung San Suu Kyi links through the years.

Facebook Burma Support Group

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Another Suu Kyi Release Rumor? Or...

This rumor involves Barack Obama. And at an upcoming summit, he is going to for the first time publicly ask for her release.

Burma claims it will release Aung San Suu Kyi. link

Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Ong San Soo Chee), Burma’s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate, symbolises the struggle of Burma's people to be free.

Although some of us have been yelling long and loud, right now, finally, The WORLD is watching.

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Aung San Suu Kyi

When is someone going to be able to confront the ruling Junta in Burma and say 'enough is enough'? (To put it mildly) Suu Kyi's plight has moved me throughout much of her detained 13 years and the longer it drags on the madder we all get.

Maybe if some dynamite director made a film about her so the buzz could gather up a storm of publicity. Or if we snuck in under dark of night and miraculously planted massive amounts of oil down deep in the ground. Maybe then we'd go clean up their oppressive military regime that keeps their democratically elected female president locked away after rightfully winning the election.

Suu Kyi, I have enormous respect for you and still I pray for your swift release.

link

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Burma frees Suu Kyi allies

Damn. I got a jolt when I saw those first four words; then the last word became clear.

We are counting on you, Hilary. It's such a horrid tease and I cannot remotely imagine how Ms Suu Kyi feels.

Nineteen political prisoners, including allies of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and five Buddhist monks, have been freed in military-ruled Burma as part of a general amnesty, an exile group said today.

The regime announced the release of over 6,000 inmates on Friday after United Nations human rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana ended a five-day visit during which he called for the progressive release of "prisoners of conscience". More »

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Burmese Junta Sees Satellite TV as Threat

Burmese Junta Sees Satellite TV as Threat

The Burmese junta believes information technology, particularly satellite TV, is a decadent threat that undermines nationalism and has warned the people to avoid satellite TV programs.

On Tuesday, the junta-controlled newspapers, The New Light of Myanmar, Myanma Alin and The Mirror, published a commentary blasting satellite TV.

When the junta found they couldn't stop satellite in Burma forever they ordered a massive hike in the annual satellite TV license fee. The license fee was increased 166-fold.

Those who couldn't afford satellite (most people) went to teashops. The teashops began doing better business.

link

"We want to see a time when citizens of Burma and the Nobel prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi can live freely in their own country,"

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

You can't hide the truth forever. What a happy day it will be when democracy finally comes to Myanmar (Burma).

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Don't Forget Burma

The media spotlight above Burma is dimming by the day, hundreds of the peaceful protestors that took to the streets not long ago are still under arrest and are being tortured daily - now more than ever Burma needs your support.

Go to www.dontforgetburma.org to see the messages of support that have been left so far and leave your own! Some of them are inspirational - many of them are quite funny - all of them show that we haven't forgotten Burma.

(via: facebook)

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Risking All: The Burmese Jokers Who Laugh in the Face of Danger

Even by the standards of dictatorships, the Burmese junta of General Than Shwe has astonishingly little sense of humour. And, in a regime such as this, life was never going to be easy for the Moustache Brothers.

For 30 years the three comedians have charmed their audiences and irritated the authorities with their mixture of traditional Burmese clowning and topical satire. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader, is one of their fans. Like her, two of the Moustache Brothers have already served long prison sentences.

So it was little surprise when, late at night two weeks ago, five members of the Burmese special branch knocked at the door and led away Par Par Lay, the star of the group. He was given no time to pack spare clothes. Since then his family, whose cramped front room serves as the troupe’s miniature theatre, have heard nothing about his health or whereabouts.

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Burma, Not Myanmar
Just to put it out there on the subject of Burma....

Calling Burma Myanmar is insulting to the Burmese people. Burma was a democracy from independence in 1948 until the military coup of 1962. It is the illegitimate junta that has changed its name. In 1990 the junta held elections to legitimise its rule. This backfired as the National League for Democracy won by a landslide. The stunned generals refused to recognise the results.

So to use Burma instead of Myanmar is to respect the democratic expression of Burma’s people.

I realize that there are problems in the US, too, but the Burmese people continue to haunt me. And if that's inside of me-- on my mind and in my heart-- I'm compelled to express it to whomever will listen.

link

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Michael Stipe of R.E.M. on Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma

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Monks Allowed Past Suu Kyi's House

Detained Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi stepped out of her home in tears Saturday to greet Buddhist monks marching past the compound where she is being held.

Just what will it take for democracy in Burma? No, thanks, America. We don't need your brand of democracy.

"Today is extraordinary. We walked past lay disciple Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's house today. We are pleased and glad to see her looking fit and well," a 45-year-old monk told about 200 people at Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon. "Daw" is an honorific used in referring to older women.

"She came out to the gate and paid obeisance to us and later waved at the crowd when we left," said the monk, who did not give his name.

Suu Kyi, 62, has been under detention for more than 11 of the last 18 years, and continuously since May 2003. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy party, which won a 1990 general election but was not allowed to take power by the military.

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Daw Aung Sun Suu Kyi

Actor/Comedian Jim Carey has made a YouTube video on behalf of the US Burma Campaign calling for the release of Daw Aung Sun Suu Kyi, the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient who was detained in 1989 by the ruling military junta and remains under house arrest today.

Related:
Her story has really resonated and my ambitious little 11 posts over the past 5 years have had no affect on her illegal twelve year imprisonment whatsoever but to inform in some small way. Why in hell did they bother to elect her president when they had no intention of letting her govern?

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Tomorrow, on June 19th 2005, Burma's democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will be 60 years old. On that day she will have spent a total of 9 years and 238 days in detention.

Armed soldiers behind a barricade of barbed wire turn away any visitors. The regime has also cut her phone line, so no-one can call to wish her happy birthday. The brutal generals who rule Burma have already made one attempt on her life, attacking a convoy she was travelling in on May 30th 2003. Up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death in the attack. Aung San Suu Kyi's car managed to speed away, but she was later arrested.

REM are planning an onstage protest against Burma. They will broadcast a song dedicated to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently under house arrest in Burma. The band will play the unspecified song during a concert in Dublin, but it will be broadcast into the military-ruled Burma via an Oslo-based satellite TV station.

REM are performing the song to raise awareness of Suu Kyi's 2,523rd day in detention on the Nobel Peace Prize winner's 60th birthday. The band will also speak about the activist while onstage in Dublin. It is part of a series of worldwide events against Burma.

She stands alone after all these years fighting for the freedom of her country and I pray she sees her country free some day soon. Why the story of Aung San Suu Kyi should haunt the conscience of the world.

What You Can Do
Arrest Yourself
Send Birthday Cards
Global Protest At Embassies

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I've been quite passionate about and used to write quite often about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (8 posts in 2003) and the atrocities in Burma (Myanmar). The way I understand it, Burma was able to have an actual democratic election for the first time in their history and she was elected president. Her father had previously been a leader there. Soon, the military junta that rule Burma, assaulted her caravan and she's been kept for years in seclusion under "house arrest". I read a Suu Kyi email list and have seen how the people just adore her. Now Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Sting and U2 are joining forces on a benefit album for the Burmese democracy activist and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.



If the US wants to help some country with freedom and democracy, why haven't they been more diligent about Burma's situation? [more ]



*Mouse-over the picture for full effect. Learn how it's done at Mandarin Design.



Quote For Today

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

~Kahlil Gibran



You HAVE been to visit What She Said, haven't you? No? Well get your ass in gear. Now.



I embarass my offspring.

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» In Amsterdam, Angelique Houtkamp has been making paintings and mixed media objects inspired by many images she also uses in her work as a tattoo artist.

Link via Sugar 'n' Spicy



» Bono is planning a massive concert to ease Third World debt on the 20th anniversary of LIVE AID, according to reports. more »

Bob Geldof is not participating this time around. more »



» Talk about your Super Ping - See Ping-O-Matic. link



» {On This Date}May 31, 1996 - Timothy Leary's Dead or is he just outside looking in? Theories, memorials and more »



» May 31, 2003 - Burma's pro-democracy activists are marking the one-year anniversary of the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. more »



The No Carb Diet

C - Cheney

A - Ashcroft

R - Rumsfeld

B - Bush

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Charlie Is My Darling

Shot in Belfast and Dublin over the space of three days during the Rolling Stones' 1965 Irish tour 'Charlie Is My Darling' enjoys cult status as the great missing Stones documentary and gets three rare screenings during Triptych courtesy of the Stones once upon a time svengali in chief Andrew Loog Oldham.



Among the memorable fly on the wall scenes captured on film are Mick and Keef drunkenly trying out their Elvis impersonations and Brian Jones prophetically reflecting on his lack of a future with the band he had founded while, the songs featured on the soundtrack include 'Get Off Of My Cloud', 'Heart Of Stone', 'Play With Fire' and 'Satisfaction'. Sure would love to see this documentary. [more...]



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Fresh hope for Suu Kyi's release. Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed from house arrest within a few days, according to her party chairman, Aung Shwe. Burman's first democratically elected President has been under house arrest by the military strongmen who rule Burma. They have made the country a global byword for backwardness and brutality. Absolutely phenomenal being the first democratically elected president in Burma. Outstanding that the president is a woman. Soon after elected, the ruling junta arrested her and the world waits for her release. Some think it may be soon this time. Many nations have boycotted Burma and their products.



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Happy Thursday! $1.77 a gallon for Regular gas this morning. Highest I've ever paid. And, while still in shock, I almost hit another deer this morning on the highway. He was grazing on the grass right beside the asphalt.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

My sister and Mother are coming over to our house for Thanksgiving Dinner.



View Live Parade Cam in Times Square



Sir Mick has defied calls for a tourism boycott of Burma to spend a long weekend there. The news of Sir Mick's visit will outrage British campaigners who have joined the international move to urge tourists to boycott Burma, which calls itself Myanmar. Bad call, Mick. Of all the places he could travel, he picks the one where the former government leaders have taken the new, and first time democratically elected president under seige since May. President Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still being held captive by her country.



Jimi Hendrix Birthday - born Nov 27, 1942.



{thankful}

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer



Plays with matches, runs with scissors and goes all the way. I'm a fucking molotov cocktail missing a match.

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This Is How We Cut & Paste or What I Did Today When I Should Have Been More Productive



The Great Cosmic Booty Call or Harmonic Convergence?



Happy Birthday to Joni Mitchell who's celebrating her 60th birthday today. I bought 'Clouds' when it came out in 1969 and began playing Chelsea Morning and Songs To Aging Children, and That Song About The Midway on my guitar for my friends. I haven't played those songs in forever. When I pick up the guitar later, I'll gonna try Songs.... I still remember people at school asking, "Have you heard 'Clouds' yet?" Soon after, we would see her at Woodstock. Next came 'Ladies Of The Canyon'. For Free was very poignant. And the rhythm of Rainy Night House persuaded me to keep writing poetry. I just realized that now. Music memories are sacred. They hold pieces of your very soul.



MTV has given a humanitarian award to Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi because she "is an inspiration to us all". Indeed.



Burying Lester Bangs - we tried, but someone keeps digging him back up.



The Sex Code is yet another signature code, modeled after the Geek Code, and using elements from that, the Whore Code, and the Other Sex Code, which is much smaller than this but was there first. [via: stare}



A thing of beauty is a joy until sunrise. After that, you may find yourself in 'coyote, chew-your-arm-off mode'.

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Good morning.



Can we finally raise our Pangalactic Gargleblaster and drink to the promise of a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie?



Rickie Lee Jones is at her best. Isn't she always?



Unsure of what faith your true beliefs follow? Buddhist? Pagan? Catholic? Take this quiz and find out.



Pressure is still on for Suu Kyi's release with Japan's PM now pressing Myanmar to free her.



Have you see the real George Bush Blog? It's not a joke. Too bad there's no comments.



Putting the "ass" in classy.

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Good morning to you...



Today is Rosh Hashanna. "Teach us to number our days so that we may obtain a heart of wisdom." Rosh Hashanah reminds us that our time in this world is limited, so let us do our best to make a difference in the world and in our communities in which we live.



{music} Bands Against Bush is an international movement which uses music and art and the support systems of these activities for protest and political involvement. We oppose the Bush administration and its domestic and foreign policies. Some celebrations are planned for Oct 11.



And Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello is planning to hit the road with fellow politically minded musicians Billy Bragg and Steve Earle on the Tell Us the Truth Tour this fall.



{fashion} The Edge of Hip: Vice, the Brand



{artsy} Clay illustrations by Amy Vangsgard. [via: sweet anne]



{political} Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi returned home on Friday after more than three months in detention but her doctor said she faces house arrest again at home while doctors tend to her there in recovery.



{quote} Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business. ~Tom Robbins



saturday morning me//

bedhead/pass the visine/

drinking: dr enuf & java/2 fisted drinker/cheerios/

still smoking & toking/hubby quit smoking/

olive henley/jeans/yoga flats/

listening: my morning jacket-it still moves/

so how's about you, mon amis?/



Can I trade this blog for what's behind door #2?

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Good Morning! I am tired, satiated, spent.... Ah'm talkin' 'bout eatin' me some sticky ribs, corn on the cob, and such good shit as that. Back home to rest up...and having folks over this evening for some front porch picking and some back porch grilling.



::Comments X 2 - YACCS is fucked up, so I've added Enetation comments until they get it fixed. I have both in the template for now. Me? A repressed control freak with a sphincter that can snap broomsticks? Nah.

**11:07 am - Edited to add: Can't comment at Tish's, or Shirl's--well evidentally I didn't read down far enough, on my return trip I see she's now installed a Zonkboard, and Rhonda has installed Enetation--hope it took my comment, Karen's got a tagboard; or Kymber's, or... still checking 'em out.



::Xeni posting live from Burning Man as it winds down. The Art of Burning Man - Take a look at some of the creative cars.



::Daw Aung San Suu Kyi now on Hunger Strike. Sign Burma Freedom Petition- Help Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She's been locked away by the opposition for 3 months after winning that country's first Presidential election held by the people of Myanmar (Burma) in their attempt at a Democratic society. If you're not familiar with her plight, take a look at this site for a quick overview.



::Vote in the Ugly Couch Contest [via: j-walk]



::David Blaine, the30-year-old New Yorker arrived in London on Sunday for his latest stunt, to be suspended in a plastic case over the River Thames for 44 days beginning Friday.



Quote For Today

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

~Kahlil Gibran



Guys don't make passes at girls with fat asses.

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Good Morning to you....



::MTV Europe's Burma Campaign

MTV Europe are launching a new campaign urging the release of Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi. The campaign - which has been supported by Coldplay's Chris Martin, Bono, Macy Gray and Sir Bob Geldof - will feature promos across all the European MTV and VH1 channels from Wednesday. The promos urge TV viewers to visit websites where they can petition UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to refer her arrest to the Security Council. "We have to take a stand against this gross violation of human rights," said Chris Martin. "The world's leaders aren't doing enough to rectify the situation in Burma and this campaign can provide a global call for Aung San Suu Kyi's release." [More >>]



Some days you're the statue and others you're the pigeon.

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