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Crisis in Tibet (+ action items)
In case you haven't heard, there've been protests in Tibet the last few days marking the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising. These are some of the biggest demonstrations the country's seen since the 1980s. The Chinese government has clamped down hard and violence has broken out.
Violent protests erupted Friday in a busy market area of Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with Chinese security forces. Witnesses say the protesters burned shops, cars, military vehicles and at least one tourist bus.
The chaotic scene marked the most violent demonstrations since protests by Buddhist monks began in Lhasa on Monday, which was the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The ongoing protests have been the largest in Tibet since the late 1980s, when Chinese security forces repeatedly used lethal force to restore order in the region.
The developments prompted the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, to issue a statement, saying that he was concerned about the situation and appealing to the Chinese leadership to "stop using force and address the long-simmering resentment of the Tibetan people."
This particular media report skipped the last part of his statement: "I also urge my fellow Tibetans not to resort to violence."
Helicopters for Darfur
This is a followup to an action item I posted last week.
Senators Biden and Lugar have introduced a resolution urging world leaders to provide 24 helicopters that peacekeepers in Darfur need to succeed. But they need to secure support from their colleagues to make sure the resolution is voted on quickly.
Thursday Open Thread
Petition 1: Tell Congress to override Bush's veto of children's healthcare.
Petition 2: Show solidarity with kids in Darfur.
Petition 3: Tell Congress and the Senate to keep the strongest anti global warming provisions intact as they finish up work on this summer's energy bill.
FRIDAY: National Day of Student Action for Burma
The U.S. Campaign for Burma is organizing a day of action for this Friday. Here's the description:
We are asking every student in the country to organize their campus this Friday, October 5th in support of the people of Burma!
Wear a red shirt, organize speakers, booths with information, concerts- whatever you want this Friday to show support for the half a million peaceful protesters in Burma (Myanmar), a country in Southeast Asia ruled by a ruthless military regime. Burma’s monks, who wear red and maroon colored robes, have led the protests this past week.
Antiwar Tuesday
I wanted to talk about this at the meeting last night, but we ran out of time.
Can we please put more effort into Antiwar Tuesday?
By "more effort" I mean more consistency, more invites, and also talking to friends about it. For all the "hey, what a great idea" comments people left in the past, it never took off the way I think it should have and still could if we tried harder. And why the f not? It's not like it's that hard to do one small action a week and then post it to a facebook group, especially when the link is right in your inbox. I'm tired of seeing 6 different people do it every week and then disappearing. We can do better.
Please do something tomorrow. And next week. And the week after that. Until the war ends. That's the only way we build anything. Otherwise, there's no forward progress, just me trying to keep the thing alive, and just once, just ONCE, I wish something like this would take on a life of its own.
Weekend Open Thread
Petition to permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling.
Congressional District Strikes
(note: there are no new ideas here, just a bunch of old ones
I ripped off, combined and applied to the current situation)