Revolution

Yup, we're sitting on the fence again. <sigh> But this is not at all surprising - our government would never do anything to upset China, or any of our big trading partners, for that matter. And China would have the most influence on the outcome of the situation in Burma. You wouldn't believe the kafoofle (from both major parties) about whether to meet the Dalai Lama or not, not so long ago. Ridiculous! But China had made it clear that it would be extremely displeased. So sorry Tibet, sorry Burma, but supporting human rights comes a poor second to making $$$$$$!

The situation in Burma is a tragedy. Not another 20 years of military repression, surely? <sigh>

we put sanctions on Iraq - and thousands died because of it, before the invasion ever happened. (It certainly softened them up)

Burma has gas and oil

If we sanction them, the poor will suffer more, that's all
Then the next thing you'll know it will be Operation Burmese Freedom
and the US will be dropping cluster bombs and running a new pipeline.

God, its a sick to have to watch Bush pretend to give a f*ck about human rights.

US Senate Calls for Iraq's Partition

By DPA

US lawmakers voted Wednesday to split Iraq into a loose federation of sectarian-based regions and urged President George W Bush to press Iraqi leaders to agree. Continue

'A Coup Has Occurred'

By Daniel Ellsberg

If there's another 9/11 under this regime … it means that they switch on full extent all the apparatus of a police state that has been patiently constructed, largely secretly at first but eventually leaked out and known and accepted by the Democratic people in Congress, by the Republicans and so forth.Continue

Playing the Fear Card

Keith Olbermann

The changes that were made last month to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act were apparently made under false pretenses -- Congresswoman Jane Harman on that, in a moment. First. The Bush administration is tonight fighting to make those changes permanent... seemingly by scaring the Democratic majority into compliance. Hey, it has worked before. Continue

America's Police Brutality Pandemic

By Paul Craig Roberts

Americans are in far greater danger from their own police forces than they are from foreign terrorists. Ironically, Bush's "war on terror" has made Americans less safe at home by diminishing US civil liberty and turning an epidemic of US police brutality into a pandemic. Continue

Bush Makes Mockery of UN Declaration of Human Rights in NY Speech

By Matthew Rothschild

At his speech to the UN, Bush had the audacity to invoke the Universal Declaration of Human Rights several times, despite the fact that he's been violating it over and over again. Continue

Bush Threatened Nations That Did Not Back Iraq War

By Agence France Presse

US President George W. Bush threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a transcript published Wednesday of a conversation he had with former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar. Continue

A Culture of Violence

By Stephen Lendman

What do you call a country that glorifies wars and violence in the name of peace. One that's been at war every year in its history against one or more adversaries. It has the highest homicide rate of all western nations and a passion for owning guns, yet the two seem oddly unconnected. Continue

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/index.html

hey Endy,

Been wanting to say this...

*Salute*

... to both of you!

*********************



and he can't even do that right!

*********************

Reports of Burma deaths


Monks speak to the crowd in front of riot police during a protest in Rangoon.
Photo: Reuters
September 27, 2007 - 10:17PM/SMH

...... Soldiers fired automatic weapons into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators today as tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Burma's main city braved a crackdown that has drawn international appeals for restraint by the ruling military junta.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that after soldiers fired into a crowd near a bridge across the Pazundaung River on the east side of downtown Rangoon, five men were arrested and severely beaten by soldiers.

Thousands of protesters ran through the streets after the shots rang out. Bloody sandals were left lying the road.

Witnesses said at least one man had been shot, though the guns did not appear to be aimed directly at the massive crowd that gathered at Sule Pagoda.

In what appeared to be an attempt to stifle fresh demonstrations by preventing monks from reaching central Rangoon, at least six truckloads of Buddhist clergy were seen being driven from their monasteries, they said.

The witnesses said there were hundreds of demonstrators in each location and that police had threatened to open fire if they failed to disperse.

The biggest flare-up was at the central market in the outlying township of Iankin.

In the city centre, the focus of a bloody crackdown yesterday that left at least four people dead and 100 injured, protesters returned to streets surrounding the iconic Sule Pagoda.

Clapping their hands and singing the national anthem, they faced off against some 50 armed police and soldiers who blocked their path, witnesses said.

"General Aung San would never order the military to kill the people," they yelled, referring to Burma's late independence hero and the father of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The 5000-strong crowd also chanted: "May we be free of all dangers, may we be free of poverty, may there be peace in hearts and minds."

Security forces have sealed off the Sule Pagoda, a key rallying point in recent anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks.

Both the Sule Pagoda, a key rallying point in recent anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks, and the Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most important shrine, were sealed off by security forces.

Military trucks were seen riding through Rangoon and plainclothes police and militia were patrolling the streets.

Most shops and businesses had closed their doors after security forces used batons, warning shots and tear gas yesterday to try to break up protesters who regrouped and carried on with their rallies throughout the day.

Witnesses later said the crowd around the Sule Pagoda had swelled to more than 10,000.

Most were young people and students along with a handful of monks, AFP witnesses said.

AFP/AP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/reports-of-burma-deaths/2007/09/27/1190486471599.html

`

Myanmar intensifies crackdown
Protesters return to streets
despite police warnings and machine gun fire

Nine people are reported dead, including four monks and a Japanese reporter

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/249D1F28-A057-47B4-9EC0-8CB028AB562F.htm

i know - people are a lot better at pretending he means it - than he is at pretending

(if you know what i mean)

September 27, 2007
Lawyers are Denied Access to Detainees
A Bad Week at Guantánamo

By ANDY WORTHINGTON

One thing you learn when studying Guantánamo is that nothing can ever be taken for granted, and the events of the last week have demonstrated, yet again, that this is the case. In Washington, last week District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed 16 lawsuits, challenging the indefinite imprisonment of at least 40 detainees in Guantánamo. This has had the knock-on effect of denying lawyers access to their clients. Crowing smugly, Justice Department lawyer Andrew Warden declared after the decision, "In light of this development, counsel access (both legal mail and in-person visits) is no longer permitted."

That this is possible, 39 months after the Supreme Court ruled decisively, in Rasul v. Bush, that the detainees had the right to challenge the basis of their detention, and that habeas corpus was, as Justice John Stephens so memorably described it, "a writ antecedent to statute throwing its roots deep into the genius of our common law," demonstrates, succinctly, how the Bush administration has, for the last six years, shamed the "genius" of the American legal system by reducing it to a game of legislative ping-pong.

Although lawyers for the detainees remain confident that the Supreme Court will rule in the detainees' favor (probably in spring 2008), this is a terrible setback for the detainees in question. Imprisoned without charge or trial for over five and a half years, they have no other contact with the outside world apart from through the minimal ministrations of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and their lawyers are often their only lifeline. This process is made that much harder when, year after year, the lawyers are driven to admit to their clients that, despite widespread opposition to the existence of Guantánamo, their attempts to bring them justice-- a day in court before a judge who can impartially weigh the evidence set before him by the government-- are repeatedly obstructed by the administration.

http://www.counterpunch.org/worthington09272007.html

Shots fired on Myanmar protest
Protesters say 200 dead

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E6AFDA55-BED6-4537-B580-D75B0EB7D968.htm

'Internet cut' as Burma troops move into monasteries

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3008095.ece

Published on Thursday, September 27, 2007 by Associated Press
Iraq Vet Plans to Return His Medals in Protest
by Ryan J. Foley

MADISON, Wis. - An Iraq war veteran said Tuesday he is returning his military medals in what anti-war groups are calling a rare and powerful protest.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/27/4133/

Shot dead trying to show the real picture of Burma
Images suggest that Japanese video journalist was a victim of Burma's repressive junta
By Claire Soares
Published: 28 September 2007

Dodging the bloodstained sandals and the panic-stricken masses who fled troops near Sule Pagoda in the centre of the Burmese capital Rangoon yesterday, Kenji Nagai kept his camera rolling, recording vital footage of Burma's closed society and providing a lifeline to the outside world for the protesting monks and civilians who were risking their lives for much-needed change.

Then, in one dreadful moment, the Japanese video journalist took a bullet in the chest - almost certainly from the gun of a Burmese soldier.

We cannot be certain of the exact circumstances in which Mr Nagai died, but a series of pictures appears to suggest he was callously gunned down, a victim of the repressive junta who are almost as keen to quell the worldwide media coverage of the protests as they are to quell the protests themselves. Burmese state television has been running news bulletins accusing global broadcasters of pumping out a "Skyful of lies".

It fell to Mr Nagai's father to identify his son, who was working for the Japanese news agency APF News, from photos and videos taken in the street where he was killed. Japan has lodged a protest with the Burmese authorities. Mr Nagai was one of at least nine people known to have been killed in Rangoon yesterday. There may have been more. It seems unlikely that they will have been the last.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3007114.ece

Odds against monks facing Myanmar troops

well documented collection of news reports from Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070927/ap_on_re_as/myanmar_military_vs_monks

my god -this is unbelievable

Wrongly accused held for 70 years

A woman who spent 70 years in institutions after she was wrongly accused of theft has been reunited with her long-lost family.

Jean Gambell, now 85, was working as a cleaner in a doctor's surgery when she was accused of stealing 2s 6d - equivalent to twelve-and-a-half pence.

The cash later turned up but by then Jean had been sectioned.

Her two brothers found the sister they had thought was dead when a care home questionnaire came to their house.

Jean's mother died 25 years ago and her brothers, David and Alan, who were not even born in 1937, lost touch with her when they were split up.

David Gambell, now 63, from Wirral, Merseyside, said: "Last month I received a questionnaire from a care home in Macclesfield asking whether we were happy with it.

"It was addressed to my mother and I was just about to throw it in the bin as junk when I saw a name pencilled in the corner - Jean Gambell.

"I rang them and they said straight away our sister was there."

Alan Gambell, also from Wirral, added: "We were not even born in 1937 when Jean was put away but I do remember her being brought to us by two wardens when we were young."

The boys lost touch with Jean when they were very young as the family was split up and some were put in care.

When their mother died, the last link to Jean was lost.

Inquiries with Macclesfield Social Services confirm that following her original detention at Cranage Hall records were then lost.

Jean had been put in various care homes before being moved to Macclesfield.

Alan said: "We now know many of the things she was saying to the staff had been dismissed as figments of her imagination."

Last month the brothers made their first visit to see Jean at the care home and were told she was deaf, that staff communicated with her by writing and that she may not remember them.

'No bitterness'

David said: "We were very nervous. We had a bunch of flowers and wrote on a piece of card 'Hello Jean, we're your brothers'.

"They brought her in and she took one look at us and said: 'Hello Alan, hello David', and put her arms around us."

Shortly after the meeting Jean suffered a stroke, which the family believe may be connected to the shock of their reunion, but she is said to be making good progress.

David said: "It's been emotional. Nowadays there are reviews and appeals but back then, a doctor could sign away a life with the stroke of a pen - it's a terrible waste.

"It's incredible, after all this time there was no hint of bitterness."

Cheshire County Council said it was investigating the matter.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7016541.stm

Endy please don't get yourself sick over all this that you post. You can only do so much.

We that like your poetry very much don't want ever to be without it so take care.

Hey I'm okay, Angelique

people around here are used to my mood swings
:wink:

seriously - the other night i wrote something about revenge (concerning child abusers) and it was a really profound experience (which took 3 hours)
i posted it up in response to people calling for revenge here

http://www.able2know.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2873212#2873212

It was very painful to write and i don't know - but the response is so typical (apart from Francis - thanks Francis) no one says a f*cking word - to either agree or disagree. It's just BLANK

That got me down on top of other **** this week

This is for anyone still reading the thread..







Under Pressure




Pressure
pushing down on me
Pressing down on you

Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

thats ok

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming, "let me out!"
Pray tomorrow
takes me higher

Pressure on people
People on streets

Okay

Chippin' around
kick my brains round the floor
These are the days
It never rains but it pours

People on streets
Dee da dee da day
People on streets
Dee da dee da dee da dee da

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming, "let me out!"
Pray tomorrow
takes me high high higher

Pressure on people
People on streets

Turned away from it all
Like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work

Keep coming up with love
But it's so slashed and torn
Why why why?

(Love, love, love, love)

Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love give love give love?
Give love give love give love give love give love give love?
Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care
For the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
this is ourselves

Under Pressure
Under Pressure
Pressure





(Revised by E - original lyrics by Queen & David Bowie)

things are looking strained all over
because i researched WWI recently i can't help but feel nervous about whats happening in the middle east. (I mean the build up going on all over)


Syria says Israel is warmongering
US confirms Baghdad air strike
Iran says CIA is 'terrorist' agency(on the radio a few hours ago i heard they said much more than that)

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/55ABE840-AC30-41D2-BDC9-06BBE2A36665.htm

On Wednesday, the US senate voted 76-22 in favour of a resolution urging the state department to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation.

(from above link)