even more proof Neil Finn is a GOD!

Seven Worlds Collide 2008/2009

Over Christmas 2008 and New Year 2009, Neil Finn has invited the core band from his 2001 Seven Worlds Collide project, plus some other special guests, to create a new album at Roundhead studios in Auckland, New Zealand.

Guests confirmed so far are Radiohead's Phil Selway and Ed O'Brien, legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, founder member of The Smiths and current member of US alternate rock innovators Modest Mouse, Soul Coughing's Sebastian Steinberg, multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano, Wilco members Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, along with NZ musicians Liam Finn, Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. All proceeds from this very special recording will go to support the continuing great work of Oxfam International.

And look out – if you think this is just going to happen behind closed doors, you're mistaken – Neil plans to share this unique event with music fans in New Zealand by presenting a short series of intimate and informal live performances at The Powerstation, Mt Eden Road, Auckland, NZ.

Keith Olbermann is THE MAN!

Olbermann: Gay marriage is a question of love
Everyone deserves the same chance at permanence and happiness

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27650743/
Nov. 10, 2008 MSNBC Keith Olbermann

"Finally tonight as promised, a Special Comment on the passage, last week, of Proposition Eight in California, which rescinded the right of same-sex couples to marry, and tilted the balance on this issue, from coast to coast.

Some parameters, as preface. This isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics, and this isn't really just about Prop-8. And I don't have a personal investment in this: I'm not gay, I had to strain to think of one member of even my very extended family who is, I have no personal stories of close friends or colleagues fighting the prejudice that still pervades their lives. And yet to me this vote is horrible. Horrible. Because this isn't about yelling, and this isn't about politics. This is about the human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it.

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Only now you are saying to them—no. You can't have it on these terms. Maybe something similar. If they behave. If they don't cause too much trouble. You'll even give them all the same legal rights—even as you're taking away the legal right, which they already had. A world around them, still anchored in love and marriage, and you are saying, no, you can't marry. What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?

I keep hearing this term "re-defining" marriage. If this country hadn't re-defined marriage, black people still couldn't marry white people. Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal in 1967. 1967. The parents of the President-Elect of the United States couldn't have married in nearly one third of the states of the country their son grew up to lead. But it's worse than that. If this country had not "re-defined" marriage, some black people still couldn't marry black people. It is one of the most overlooked and cruelest parts of our sad story of slavery. Marriages were not legally recognized, if the people were slaves. Since slaves were property, they could not legally be husband and wife, or mother and child. Their marriage vows were different: not "Until Death, Do You Part," but "Until Death or Distance, Do You Part." Marriages among slaves were not legally recognized.

You know, just like marriages today in California are not legally recognized, if the people are gay. And uncountable in our history are the number of men and women, forced by society into marrying the opposite sex, in sham marriages, or marriages of convenience, or just marriages of not knowing, centuries of men and women who have lived their lives in shame and unhappiness, and who have, through a lie to themselves or others, broken countless other lives, of spouses and children, all because we said a man couldn't marry another man, or a woman couldn't marry another woman. The sanctity of marriage.

How many marriages like that have there been and how on earth do they increase the "sanctity" of marriage rather than render the term, meaningless? What is this, to you? Nobody is asking you to embrace their expression of love. But don't you, as human beings, have to embrace... that love? The world is barren enough.

It is stacked against love, and against hope, and against those very few and precious emotions that enable us to go forward. Your marriage only stands a 50-50 chance of lasting, no matter how much you feel and how hard you work. And here are people overjoyed at the prospect of just that chance, and that work, just for the hope of having that feeling. With so much hate in the world, with so much meaningless division, and people pitted against people for no good reason, this is what your religion tells you to do? With your experience of life and this world and all its sadnesses, this is what your conscience tells you to do?

With your knowledge that life, with endless vigor, seems to tilt the playing field on which we all live, in favor of unhappiness and hate... this is what your heart tells you to do? You want to sanctify marriage? You want to honor your God and the universal love you believe he represents? Then Spread happiness—this tiny, symbolic, semantical grain of happiness—share it with all those who seek it. Quote me anything from your religious leader or book of choice telling you to stand against this. And then tell me how you can believe both that statement and another statement, another one which reads only "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

You are asked now, by your country, and perhaps by your creator, to stand on one side or another. You are asked now to stand, not on a question of politics, not on a question of religion, not on a question of gay or straight. You are asked now to stand, on a question of love. All you need do is stand, and let the tiny ember of love meet its own fate.

You don't have to help it, you don't have it applaud it, you don't have to fight for it. Just don't put it out. Just don't extinguish it. Because while it may at first look like that love is between two people you don't know and you don't understand and maybe you don't even want to know. It is, in fact, the ember of your love, for your fellow person just because this is the only world we have. And the other guy counts, too.

This is the second time in ten days I find myself concluding by turning to, of all things, the closing plea for mercy by Clarence Darrow in a murder trial. But what he said, fits what is really at the heart of this: 'I was reading last night of the aspiration of the old Persian poet, Omar-Khayyam," he told the judge. It appealed to me as the highest that I can vision. I wish it was in my heart, and I wish it was in the hearts of all: So I be written in the Book of Love; I do not care about that Book above. Erase my name, or write it as you will, So I be written in the Book of Love.'"

Top 10 Reasons to Pardon a Turkey This Thanksgiving

I *beg* you to consider not eating a turkey, or any other meat, this holiday season. Raising, penning, torturing and slaughtering animals is NOT good family values. Millions and millions of turkeys are murdered every year around this time, and most of you will sit around their carcasses while giving thanks for all your good fortune this Thursday.

"Did Sarah Palin's recent interview in front of a turkey-slaughter operation almost cause you to lose your lunch? If so, you're not alone. Even conservative pundit Joe Scarborough says he may well skip the bird this year. With Thanksgiving upon us, here without further ado are PETA's top 10 reasons to pardon a turkey this holiday season:"

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/11/top_10_reasons.php?c=pfbm

"Meat is murder" - Morrissey
"Christmas is carnage" - 'Babe'

Two steps forward, one step back

While I am elated beyond measure about the presidential election, I am so disappointed that Proposition 8, and similar laws of hatred and intolerance, passed in California, Arizona and Florida. SHAME on those people -- so it seems we still do have a long way to go. Please visit this website that names all groups who donated 5000$ or more to Proposition 8; please considering banning, boycotting, protesting or writing letters to these organizations. 
http://californiansagainsthate.com/

DISHONOR ROLL
Below is a list of the Top 12 contributors to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign that took away marriage equality in California.
- Knights of Columbus, New Haven, CT $1,425,000
- Howard Ahmanson, Jr., Irvine, CA Fieldstead & Co. $1,395,000
- John Templeton, Bryn Mawr, PA John Templeton Foundation, Chairman/President $1,100,000
- National Organization for Marriage, Princeton, NJ $1,041,134.80
- Terry Caster & Family, San Diego, CA $693,000
- Robert Hurtt, Orange, CA $550,000
- Focus On the Family, Colorado Springs, CO $539,643.66
- American Family Association, Tupelo, MS $500,000
- Claire Reiss, La Jolla, CA Reisung Enterprises $500,000
- Elsa Prince, Holland, MI $450,000
- Concerned Women for America, Washington DC $409,000
- Hartford Holdings, LLC., Provo, UT $300,000

'I can see Belgium'

AP - Nov. 1, 2008
MONTREAL - Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday.

"Maybe in eight years," replies a laughing Palin...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27489929

Playing off Palin's much-mocked comment in an early television interview that she had insights into foreign policy because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska," the caller tells her: "You know we have a lot in common also, because except from my house I can see Belgium."

She replies: "Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes."

When Audette refers to Canadian singer Steph Carse as Canada's prime minister, Palin replies: "Well, he's doing fine and yeah, when you come into a position underestimated it gives you an opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder." Canada's prime minister is Stephen Harper...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/01/masked-avengers-prank-cal_n_140023.html

Darn right! wink *

Is socialized medicine really better?

Like many of you perhaps, I saw and very much enjoyed Michael Moore’s latest documentary “Sicko” about the profoundly fucked-up American health care system, which was negatively contrasted with those of the UK, Canada, France and Cuba. I have many, diverse health problems, and access to health care will always be a major concern for me. I have been lucky to have excellent health care through most of my life – the best being when I was in grad school at Harvard. My Primary Care Physician (who was an RN) was the most knowledgeable, kind, thorough health-care provider, and my endocrinologist was Dean Emeritus of Harvard Med School! However, when my teaching position there dried up, I was totally without any health insurance (thankfully, those 6 months were about the only crises-free time of my life, so I lucked out). Even in my hometown, a medium-sized rust-belt city, I had very good health care and good insurance to support it.

When my husband quit his job in the US to prepare for our move to the UK, I was without insurance for about a month, and during that time I wanted to stock up on all my prescriptions in case it took awhile to get settled and find a GP in England. I paid for 3 months’ worth of meds out of pocket, and it cost 1500$!!! So you can imagine I was looking forward to the British health system, the NHS. I wasn’t here very long before the NHS was put to the test -– I was sent overnight to the hospital for observations, happily this all turned out fine. But the entire stay was free, they had ample and tasty vegetarian offerings for the meals, we were allowed to wear our own clothing, and treated less like inmates and more like clients than in US hospitals (in my experience, anyways). This was all confirmed when I was in the emergency room and hospital again after a very serious car-accident last month. And because I have one disease that is on a government list of exemptions, ALL my Rxs are free for my entire life here! Yay British National Health Services!

HOWEVER, when I got here, I found most of the meds I was on were also available here, but one very important one was not. I am on this medicine for a contraindication, that is to say, the primary use of this med was not important to me, but secondarily it does help control some of the symptoms I have from not one, but TWO different endocrine diseases. I was unhappy to hear that this med wasn’t available here as I am on this specific brand for its very specific balance of ingredients. I was put on one that was the closest approximation to my previous one as possible. However, the first problem with socialized medicine, or at least the NHS, cropped up at this point; you are not carefully walked through the procedure for taking each medicine here, and you are not given a print-out of all the warnings, complications, protocol by the pharmacist. Without any guidance, I took this medicine wrong (even though I had scoured the leaflet in the package and scoured the product’s website for answers – I am NOT a dumb girl). I did not adjust well to this medicine, on top of taking it wrong, and it had many nasty side effects which lasted months.

So I saw my GP to see if I could find some relief from these side effects, which were really bothersome. I offhandedly said “Too bad you guys don’t have Medicine X here, I never had problems on it,” and my GP (who is wonderful, by the way) mumbled under her breath that wasn’t true. Turns out this medicine always existed in the UK, but they discourage (meaning LIE to) patients from taking it because it is so much more expensive than the other brands, as regular practice. I don’t blame her personally, it’s the system, but I told her I was quite annoyed, the new medicine was difficult for me, and I wasn’t on this med for fun – I needed that exact dosage and mix, which is always used in the treatment of my syndrome! So the good news is, I am back on the original brand and already adjusting better to it. But the bad news is, I was lied to and put on a medicine that had all sorts of deleterious effects.

Now, does this mean the entire system of socialized medicine is broken? No – I would always rather live in a country with universal health care. About 1/6 of the US population (around 45 million people) have no health insurance at all, this is SICKENING, a scandal, a crime and a shame. However, turns out the UK system is a little broken too…

Better Late Than Never? Sheesh!

The US Congress finally got around to apologizing to Americans of African descent for slavery and the Jim Crow laws. Oops, our bad! Considering it took the Catholic Church a few centuries to apologize for imprisoning and disenfranchising Galileo (wait a minute - the world is round? E PUR SI MUOVE!) I suppose Congress is ahead of the curve here.

What a shock that reparations are not going forward; I guess they have not read Chuck D's book! While they're at it, maybe they can also apologize to Italian-Americans for the forced WWII internment camps during World War II -- roughly 600,000 Italians were required to carry identity cards that labeled them "resident aliens." Some 10,000 people in war zones on the West Coast were required to move inland, while hundreds of others were held in military camps for up to two years. Also, Sicilians were lynched in New Orleans around the turn of the 20th century. Did you know that?

How about apologizing to the millions and millions of Native Americans/ First Nations? Sorry we tried to obliterate your culture/ language/ heritage/ health and stole all your land in countless insincere treaties. Oops!

House apologizes for slavery and Jim Crow
Resolution does not mention reparations; commits to rectifying 'misdeeds'

The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws. "Today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus...

Congress has issued apologies before — to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws. Five states have issued apologies for slavery, but past proposals in Congress have stalled, partly over concerns that an apology would lead to demands for reparations — payment for damages...

The Cohen resolution does not mention reparations. It does commit the House to rectifying "the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow." It says that Africans forced into slavery "were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage" and that black Americans today continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow laws that fostered discrimination and segregation.

The House "apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow." "Slavery and Jim Crow are stains upon what is the greatest nation on the face of the earth," Cohen said. Part of forming a more perfect union, he said, "is such a resolution as we have before us today where we face up to our mistakes and apologize as anyone should apologize for things that were done in the past that were wrong."

because counting down makes the time go faster...

www.backwardsbush.com

Olympic Torch paraded through Tibet

I really don't know what to say about this one. It is no shock, after major protests rocked torch-passing cities like Paris and San Francisco, that there would be an unholy clampdown on Lhasa and its environs as the torch passed through.

- Tensions simmering over torch in Tibet
"Over the weekend the Chinese Government went ahead with its controversial plan to run the Olympic torch relay through Tibet. Heavy security guaranteed there were no human rights demonstrations. Instead, the relay ended up being a rallying point for local political leaders who vowed to destroy the Dalai Lama, even as they put new touches to some of Lhasa's landmarks. Though foreigners are still banned from entering Tibet, after the violent rebellion in March a handful of journalists were allowed into Lhasa to cover the torch relay, which had been cut from three days in Tibet to three hours... " from ABC news

- Here's what the NY Times had to say about it:
"Olympic Torch’s Tibet Visit Is Short and Political
BEIJING — The visit of the Olympic torch to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, came and went in about two hours on Saturday. Leaders of the ruling Communist Party probably exhaled once the flame was trundled onto an airplane without incident and flown out of a city that only three months ago had erupted in violent anti-Chinese protests.

But if Chinese leaders were anxious to avoid protests, they did not avoid using the torch relay as a stage to again lash out at the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. Zhang Qingli, the Communist Party secretary of Tibet, stood beneath the Potala Palace, the historic seat of the Dalai Lama, and bid farewell to the flame with a speech that at times was itself fiery. “Tibet’s sky will never change and the red flag with five stars will forever flutter high above it,” Mr. Zhang said, according to Reuters. “We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique.”

The broadside against the Dalai Lama punctuated an abbreviated torch relay in Lhasa that was partly broadcast on state television and that quickly brought criticism from pro-Tibetan groups outside China. For months, advocates for Tibet have demanded in vain that China not take the torch through Lhasa.

“The torch relay in Lhasa is China’s latest episode in a series of betrayals of everything the Olympics represent,” Kate Woznow, campaign director of Students for a Free Tibet, said in a statement. “Parading the torch through Lhasa while Tibetans live under virtual martial law is China’s most egregious exploitation of the Games yet.”

The Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan regions of western China have been under a security crackdown since March, when violent protests broke out in Lhasa and spread. China has accused the Dalai Lama of masterminding the uprising, a charge he denies. Last week, he called on Tibetans not to protest when the torch passed through Lhasa."

THIS is my new country? Riots in the Tube!

Confronted with the news that drinking on the London Underground would be banned, a huge crowd turned out to have a drunken bacchanalia "one last time." And I thought Americans were nuts!

Six London Underground stations were closed as trouble flared when thousands of people marked the banning of alcohol on London transport with a party.



That's right, we need more drunken football hooligans brawling in the Tube, not less!

N.Y. governor seeks to recognize gay marriages

Here is a very recent article from the Associated Press about the NYS stance on gay marriage, this is fantastic!

- "SAN FRANCISCO - As California set a date for gay couples to begin getting married in the state, it was revealed Wednesday that New York's governor has ordered state agencies to begin recognizing gay marriages performed in states and countries where they're legal.

Same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere would be recognized in New York in response to a state court ruling this year, Gov. David Paterson's spokeswoman said Wednesday." from msnbc

- "The appellate judges determined that there is no legal impediment in New York to the recognition of a same-sex marriage. The state Legislature "may decide to prohibit the recognition of same-sex marriages solemnized abroad," the ruling said. "Until it does so, however, such marriages are entitled to recognition in New York." Massachusetts is currently the only U.S. state that recognizes same-sex marriage, but its residency requirements would bar New Yorkers from marrying there.

New York residents could instead flock to California, where gay couples will be able to wed beginning June 17 — unless that state's Supreme Court decides to stay its own ruling. Upon their return home, in the eyes of the state, their unions would be no different from those of their heterosexual neighbors. Gay couples could also travel outside the country to marry in Canada, for example." click here for article

gay marriage bans overturning, YAY!

First Massachusetts 2 years ago, then New York to follow, and now California?!? Damn, I left America just as things are getting better! Need any more proof that the Coasts are where it's at, and the Fly-over states suck it?

May 17 is International Day Against Homophobia, a world-wide rally. Please wear either red or rainbow in support of it. The recent court cases:

Martinez v. County of Monroe.
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 2008. The court ruled unanimously that because New York legally recognizes out-of-state marriages of opposite-sex couples, it must do the same for same-sex couples. The county is seeking leave to appeal the decision.

In re Marriage Cases
California Supreme Court, 2008. The court ruled 4-3 that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is invalid under the equal protection clause of the California Constitution, and that full marriage rights, not merely domestic partnership, must be offered to same-sex couples.

Wear red for International Workers' Day today!

"May 1st, International Workers' Day, commemorates the historic struggle of working people throughout the world, and is recognized in every country except the United States and Canada. This despite the fact that the holiday began in the 1880s in the United States, with the fight for an eight-hour work day... It is not surprising that the state, business leaders, mainstream union officials, and the media would want to hide the true history of May Day, portraying it as a holiday celebrated only in Moscow's Red Square. In its attempt to erase the history and significance of May Day, the United States government declared May 1st to be "Law Day", and gave us instead Labor Day a holiday devoid of any historical significance other than its importance as a day to swill beer and sit in traffic jams... By covering up the history of May Day, the state, business, mainstream unions and the media have covered up an entire legacy of dissent in this country. They are terrified of what a similarly militant and organized movement could accomplish today, and they suppress the seeds of such organization whenever and wherever they can. As workers, we must recognize and commemorate May Day not only for its historical significance, but also as a time to organize around issues of vital importance to working-class people today."

Voices against an Olympic boycott...

Two people I respect immensely, Fareed Zakaria and HH the Dalai Lama, on reasons NOT to boycott the Beijing Olympic games -- let me know what you think? Zakaria may be right that a boycott of the opening ceremonies, and not the Games overall, would be more effective. Others have pointed out this is unfair to the athletes, that punishing them does nothing constructive. I say Yes and No to that -- athletes are grossly over-paid, over-worshipped and over-congratulated in our society, so why do they need a multi-billion dollar celebrations of their accomplishments? It's the same way I feel about the Oscars, a bunch of overblown, self-congratulatory bullshit. There will just be more doping and corruption scandals anyways, so don't tell me it's about harmony between nations. Why don't teachers get an Olympics, people who actually help the world and deserve a parade? Sure, these world-class athletes have talent, dedication and drive, working on their craft; but so do all my friends in the arts, and for them, perfecting their craft is reward in itself. I went to one of the best universities on the planet, and none of my professors are being celebrated for their contributions to humanity. Why can't you just be an amazing long-jumper and go quietly about your business, why bring super duper ego into it?
Anyways, I am deeply contemplating what FZ and HHDL have to say, regarding my position about boycotting, so read the whole articles from the website, what do you think?

Don’t Feed China’s Nationalism
Public humiliation does not work nearly as well on the regime in Beijing as private pressure. Fareed Zakaria
“At first glance, China's recent crackdown in Tibet looks like a familiar storyline: a dictatorship represses its people. And of course that's part of the reality—as it often is in China. But on this issue, the communist regime is not in opposition to its people. The vast majority of Chinese have little sympathy for the Tibetan cause. To the extent that we can gauge public opinion in China and among its diaspora, ordinary Chinese are, if anything, critical of the Beijing government for being too easy on the Tibetans. The real struggle here is between a nationalist majority and an ethnic and religious minority looking to secure its rights.

In these circumstances, a boycott of the Olympics would have precisely the opposite effect that is intended. The regime in Beijing would become only more defensive and stubborn. The Chinese people would rally around the flag and see the West as trying to humiliate China in its first international moment of glory. (There are many suspicions that the United States cannot abide the prospect of a rising China.) For most Chinese, the Games are about the world's giving China respect, rather than bolstering the Communist Party's legitimacy…”


SEATTLE — The Dalai Lama said yesterday that he did not support a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Asked on NBC "Nightly News" whether he wanted the world to boycott the Olympics this summer, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader replied, "No." When the network asked whether he wanted the leaders of the U.S. and other nations to boycott the opening ceremony in support of Tibet and as a statement against China's recent crackdown there, the Dalai Lama replied, "That's up to them."

"It is very important to make clear, not only just the Tibet case, but in China proper" also, he said, adding that the human-rights situation in China is "poor ... very poor." Asked what his message to China was, he said: "My main point is: We are not against you. And I'm not seeking separation."

Japanese temple refuses to host Olympic torch
Speculation is monks are sympathizing with protesters over Tibet situation
updated 1:06 a.m. ET April 18, 2008


Olympic torch update:

"TOKYO - A major Japanese Buddhist temple withdrew Friday from a plan to host the Beijing Olympics torch relay, citing safety concerns and sympathy among its monks and worshippers for Tibetan protesters facing a Chinese crackdown… An official at the temple’s secretariat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the temple and its worshippers were also concerned about the treatment of fellow Buddhists in Tibet.

'There have been a lot of talk about the Tibet issue and the public opinion is heightening,” she said. “We are Buddhists just like them. We hear words of concern from many people every day.'"

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24192903/

HUGE delay in blogging, sorry

I have been posting notes pretty steadily the last few months on Facebook and MySpace, but have been totally remiss in laying them out here, on my public blog. So they are a bit out of order, but I have labeled each one with its original composition date. Enjoy!

Please help Tibet today!

(from 10 March 2008)

http://www.march10.org/

One World, One Dream: Free Tibet

March 10th 2008, marks the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising when tens of thousands of Tibetans rose up against China's illegal invasion and occupation of their country. Despite China's best attempts to destroy the Tibetan spirit, Tibetan resistance has continued for nearly half a century inside Tibet and in exile communities worldwide.

This year, with all eyes focused on the Olympics in China, Tibetans and supporters worldwide are protesting the Chinese government's use of the Olympics as a political tool to legitimize its illegal occupation of Tibet.

Join the Global Uprising for Tibet! Help us draw attention to the worsening human rights situation inside Tibet. Help us use the Olympics spotlight to shame and embarrass the Chinese government and show them that until Tibet is free, China will never be never be accepted as a leader on the world stage.

TIBET WILL BE FREE

Bring the sexy and the whisky, but leave the democracy!

(from 19 Feb. 2008)

one of my favorite quotes...
April 21, 2003, Newsweek     "How to Wage the Peace" By Fareed Zakaria

As American armies were sweeping through Iraq last week, the 101st Airborne Division went into the city of Najaf in the south, the heartland of Shiite Islam. A journalist from The New York Times stopped a waving bystander and asked him what he hoped the Americans would bring to Iraq. The man shouted out four words, one louder than the other. "Democracy," he cried. "Whisky. And sexy." Who says the American Dream has lost its appeal?

HH the Dalai Lama and nonviolence

(from March 28)

The Dalai Lama threatened Tuesday to step down as leader of Tibet’s government-in-exile if violence committed by Tibetans in his homeland spirals out of control.

Demonstrations in Tibet turned increasingly violent last week, and the Dalai Lama, speaking to reporters, urged his countrymen to show restraint.

He said that “if things become out of control” his “only option is to completely resign.” While much of the violence in Tibet has been directed against protesters, there have also been reports of Tibetan demonstrators attacking shops and burning cars.

Later, one of his top aides clarified the Dalai Lama’s comments. “If the Tibetans were to choose the path of violence he would have to resign because he is completely committed to nonviolence,” Tenzin Takhla said. “He would resign as the political leader and head of state, but not as the Dalai Lama. He will always be the Dalai Lama.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23686441

What you can do to help Tibet

(from March 22 2008)

Tibet update: from ICT president John Ackley;
“Dear Friend,
In the past 20 years, I have never had such an exhausting, heartbreaking, and exciting week. Exciting because the Tibet issue is exactly where it should be -- on the front pages of our newspapers and high on the agendas of politicians and human rights organizations everywhere. Heartbreaking because Tibetans have taken huge risks to make their voices heard and are experiencing the worst repression and crackdown since the earliest days of the Chinese occupation.

I am sure you have followed events in Tibet this week and have been equally affected. Since my last update, new demonstrations continue to happen daily in towns and villages across eastern Tibet. Please visit http://www.savetibet.org/ to see a map showing where demonstrations have occurred. You will also find in-depth updates that we are posting daily.

As of today, all tourists have been pressured to leave Lhasa and the only Western journalist there had to leave. Many journalists in Eastern Tibet were forced to leave as well. CNN has video of their reporters being forced to turn back on their way to the site of a Tibetan demonstration.

China now has an even freer hand to conduct house-to-house searches and arrests without witnesses. Despite all of this, Tibetans continue to send out images, call relatives, and even talk to reporters. Even these small communications are extremely dangerous and punishable by years in prison.

ICT is known by Tibetans as an organization they know will hear them and make their voice heard. We have received important calls from people in Tibet putting their faith in us and we have not let them down. We have been working overtime to expose the reality of this situation to the international media. And we also received calls filled with anguish. A Tibetan friend of mine received a call from a relative in Tibet so he could say “goodbye” as he expected to be arrested soon.

ICT’s staff have been working around the clock and around the world since last week to maximize this opportunity for the Tibetan people. Already this week, our work with your support has resulted in several extraordinary international efforts:

- U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is visiting Dharamsala today with a delegation of 10 members of Congress to meet with the Dalai Lama in a great show of support from the US government. Accompanied by ICT staff, she has spoken out, harshly condemning China’s recent actions and saying, "We insist the world know what the truth is inside Tibet."
- Two ICT staff traveled to Beijing for three days at the beginning of the week to meet with officials and diplomats at embassies there, and to brief them on the unrest and demonstrations in Tibet.

Soon we will send you detailed information about our upcoming rally in San Francisco on April 8, the day before the Olympic Torch passes through city. In the meantime, please visit http://www.racefortibet.org/ to learn more. In the weeks and months ahead, it is essential we continue to stand together and do everything we can for those inside Tibet risking their lives by peacefully demonstrating.

I hope I can also call on you to take more targeted actions as events unfold in the weeks ahead. We are now gathering names of those arrested in Tibet. Once we have confirmed names, we will begin doing action alerts to demand humane treatment and releases. We know that these actions can often improve conditions and reduce torture.

If you live in the United States, there are two actions you can take today:

1. Call on President Bush not to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in August. From Steven Spielberg to parlimentarians, many leaders are rethinking their involvement. We call on our leaders to stay away from the opening ceremonies in the wake of the bloody and continuing crackdown in Tibet. You may reach the U.S. President at 202-456-1111 or by email at comments@whitehouse.gov.

2. Urge your Congressional representatives to insist China not take the Olympic torch through Tibet in mid-June. ICT fears on humanitarian grounds that taking the torch through Lhasa will be seen as a provocation to Tibetans and lead to more unrest, arrests and repression. Please click here to find your legislators.

If you can, please make a donation to support ICT’s response during this critical time so we will continue to have the emergency resources we need to react quickly and effectively.”

Protests and Petitions CAN make a difference in Tibet!

(from 09 Apr 2008)

Protests and Petitions CAN make a difference in Tibet! Updates:

I. "Paris protests force cancellation of torch relay:
Security officials call off final section after huge pro-Tibet demonstrations.

PARIS - Paris’ Olympic torch relay descended into chaos Monday, with protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbing for the flame and forcing security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators yelling "Free Tibet!" The relentless anti-Chinese demonstrations ignited across the capital with unexpected power and ingenuity, foiling 3,000 police officers deployed on motorcycles, in jogging gear and even inline skates. Chinese organizers finally gave up on the relay, canceling the last third of what China had hoped would be a joyous jog by torch-bearing VIPs past some of Paris’ most famous landmarks…"

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/23978408/

II. - Obama urges Bush to consider Beijing boycott
Candidate falls short of Clinton position, but says keep option 'on the table'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24039876

- Torch kept from demonstrators, rushed away
Original route shortened; flame taken to airplane, skips closing ceremony
Gere joins Olympic Torch protests
April 9: At a protest in San Francisco, actor Richard Gere says he believes China will one day regret their actions toward Tibet.
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/24024416/
 
III. from John Ackerly, President of International Campaign for Tibet:

"Nearly everyday a new story of brutality in Tibet surfaces as the Tibetan people of Tibet stand up for their rights. Chinese soldiers and police continue to arrest, interrogate and torture Tibetans, including Buddhist monks and nuns. We know just last week eight Tibetans were killed in eastern Tibet after police fired into a crowd of several hundreds monks and laypeople protesting the "patriotic education" by the Chinese government as they visit Buddhist monasteries and demand monks to denounce the Dalai Lama. We are asking President Bush to take a stand for the Tibetan people and not attend the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics.

For more than 50 years the Tibetans have suffered at the hands of the Chinese government. Today a climate of fear pervades Tibet. As the Tibetans stand up to China, the Chinese authorities have stepped of their campaign demanding the Tibetans denounce the Dalai Lama leading to increased resentment creating a viscous cycle. It’s time the violence and intimidations tactics stop. The Chinese government must resolve this conflict peacefully and begins a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
Your voice is essential. We must keep the pressure on world leaders and ensure we know the truth inside Tibet. Tourists have been asked to leave. Journalists have been forced out of Tibet leaving China without witnesses to their strong-armed and deadly tactics."

IV. What YOU can do:

- if the Olympic torch is coming to your city, go down and join the protests.
Here is a map and itinerary of its progress: http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/journey/map

- many cities are having pro-Tibet or anti-China rallies on their own. Find yours and join in.

- Go to the ICT website http://www.savetibet.org/ and click on Take Action!
You can donate your time or money, and sign a petition to your national leader.
Protests and Petitions CAN make a difference in Tibet!

BOYCOTT THE 2008 OLYMPICS!!!

(from 18 Mar 2008)

BOYCOTT THE 2008 OLYMPICS!!!

When China was awarded the 2008 Olympics in the early part of our new century, I was very skeptical. As a long-time advocate for Tibetan freedom and close watcher of Chinese policy towards the ethnic minorities within its border, I did not feel China should be rewarded for bad behavior. And please understand when I say ’China,’ I mean the Communist oligarchy currently ruling the nation, NOT individuals of Chinese nationality or origin.

Their human rights abuses, throughout the 20th century but especially since the ’Cultural Revolution’ of the 60s, is utterly reprehensible. They have systematically oppressed freedoms of religion, speech, privacy, and security while also maintaining ugly misogynism and xenophobias. As you may know, China illegally invaded, occupied and brutalized the sovereign nation of Tibet in the 1950s, claiming that Tibet had always been part of China proper and it was only proper to return it to the "Motherland." They argue the same about Taiwan, Manchuria, and Mongolia -- just look at the disgusting symbolism in the Chinese flag. The one large star represents mainland China, and the small stars around it articulate their ideology about bringing back the lost sheep to the fold, as it were.

However, this is a gross misrepresentation of historical fact. Ethnically and linguistically, Tibet is far more connected to India and the Subcontinent than to China and eastern Asia. The Tibetan language is a separate branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages and the alphabet directly derives from the Sanskrit of India. Tibet for most of its history has been sovereign and, indeed, it once ruled China!!!

My friends in the Tibet advocacy community countered me, that modernizing for the Olympics would force China to clean up its act, and it would force the attention of the world on China’s human rights abuses, which it levels against its own people. Open religious worship is restricted and peaceful movements like Falun Gong are demonized. I was very skeptical indeed, but now I am starting to think my friends are right.

Sure, I have no love for the Chinese government and their policies -- I was proud to march on both the Chinese Embassy and the World Bank in Washington, DC during International Tibet Day, chanting "Shame, shame - China, Shame!" along with Richard Gere and other members of ICT -- but the onus is on the Chinese people themselves to wade through the bullshit force-fed to them by the government-controlled media. As free as the capitalist sector of China might be becoming, there is still a disgusting amount of state censorship of the media; radio, TV, newspapers, magazine and even the Internet (as the recent fiascos with Google and Yahoo have shown). The line fed to the average Chinese citizen is that Tibetans gleefully welcomed the People’s Liberation Army so their country could be "reformed."

At my college, there were many Chinese students studying in the Conservatory, some of whom had been in the West before, while others had not been out of their home country prior to that. I had an Indian composition professor who was shocked at the ignorance of these students, who would parrot the Chinese policy on Tibet, totally ignorant of the genocide, torture, murder, imprisonment, oppression and flat-out evil perpetrated by their own government. But if the government controls all your information, how are you to know differently?

Why, I ask over and over again, does the US need to "liberate" Kuwait (an oil-rich nation) when Saddam Hussein breathed on it funny in 1991, but we totally ignore the fact that millions of people have been murdered (ONE-THIRD of the Tibetan population!!!) and a sovereign country has been occupied for 50 years?!?! Tibet was never a perfect country and HH the Dalai Lama himself always maintained that the feudal system of Tibet prior to 1950 was deeply flawed and in need of reform. But no country or people deserve that. I am all for Socialism and Marxism, but the branch of Maoist-Communism practiced in China is truly evil to its core.

 So I ask you to boycott in whatever way you can, the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If not for Tibet, than for the Chinese support of the murderous regime of Burma (which I refuse to call Myanmar), of for their refusal to provide aid in Darfur. Or for human rights abuses in East Turkestan. The list goes on... One of the main reasons Beijing was awarded the Olympics was because they promised to improve their human rights record. They have not.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/17/2191400.htm?section=sport
http://www.boycott2008olympics.org/
http://boycott2008games.blogspot.com/