Topic #1: Obama or Clinton for President..?.er, I mean Democratic nominee. Let's keep to their ISSUES and QUALIFICATIONS for prez please. Let's keep our pond clean. // Topic #2: Healthcare Solutions // Topic #3: China's human rights abuses
As of this moment there are 476,476 signatures collected over the past two days. The goal is to push 1 million signatures worldwide, so please pass the word along. If you are new to this blog, in the posts below I have collected and commented upon some of the happenings in Tibet since March 10th.
Petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao:
As citizens around the world, we call on you to show restraint and respect for human rights in your response to the protests in Tibet, and to address the concerns of all Tibetans by opening meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Only dialogue and reform will bring lasting stability. China's brightest future, and its most positive relationship with the world, lies in harmonious development, dialogue and respect.
After decades of repression, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change. China's leaders are right now making a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.
We can affect this historic choice -- China does care about its international reputation. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get the government's attention. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world's people to support him. Fill out the form below to sign the petition--and spread the word.
Thank you, Barack Obama. Probably 98% of politicians would have simply reactively responded directly to the specific sensationalized media hype of the day, instead of talking forcefully and in nuance about the true and stifling larger picture. And there is probably no true and larger picture, domestically in America, that is harder nor more crucial to figure out so that we can find solutions and move forward, finally, than Race. More often than not I find MoveOn.org's "action emails" to their members to be so sloppy, thoughtless so as to be almost propogandastic (despite if I might agree with the ultimate opinion), and uncalled-for, so today I almost wrote off their email as another shrill cheer, this one that praised and promoted Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech.
However, I watched the speech. And I could not stop watching--except for the parts I was concurrently typing down notes to myself of why each successive part was so successful and incredible of a speech, so after jotting I had to "rewind" the YouTube video to find the place where I had lost track of the particulars of what he was saying, amongst which the particulars were more than in abundance, and begin again watching in captivation where I had left off--all the way to the end of the 37:39. Yes, I watched through without complaint a 37+ min. political speech and I venture to say that so did millions of Americans yesterday, and here I even sincerely encourage anyone and everyone to watch it.
In watching it, original source, you are not getting the stupid and useless sound bites that spread like wildfire and is the terribly petty media that has dominated our national politics, everyday lives, and discourse my entire lifetime; instead, with convenience (YouTube: play, "rewind," "fast forward" all you want), experience the type of actual societal evolution and morph that takes place--in great writing, words, and oratory--that captures What Specifically Has Been Going On in our country--and hopefully, with its verbalization into form and contour brings the hollowed out capacity now for actions to fill in where words have just delineated, and enlightened. In essence, proactive intellect like Obama's speech is the first real step to how we as a country "get past" race/color, or better yet, "go on" with it now, differently from before, within a truer skin.
Wow, that last paragraph was pretty grandiose. Guess by transferance I'm just practicing my own oratory skills on paper. In contrast to lofty oratory, below are my sloppy notes taken during the speech, if you care:
not good for sound bites, but I think he's a pretty sharp guy with an amazing understanding of things,and doesn't hurt that he's about the best orator that's been around in politics
those 10-word recaps every 1000 seconds, popping up on CNN bottom bar, WHILE HE IS TALKING = dumb
Expounds at length, & w/ sustained precision (compared to conventional standards of a speech, esp. a national one) the Nuance on RACE IN AMERICA -"Black experience," the cliche; and then the real many aspects, components, and kinds, and sources of all of those -"White experience," the cliche; and then the real many aspects, components, and kinds, and sources of all of those
-The exactness of our stale racial stalemate--the constant actors of "others" and "within us" that exploits the particulars for this and that, to continue that stalemate
-Exactness of the race Exploitation on all sides
-Calls out: Exactness of PARTS FOR UNDERSTANDING, extricate them, feel out textures, grab hold, and HOW TO MOVE AHEAD
-Extricate the problems in media, public habits of exploitation-consumption-perpetuation of sensational, meaningless, racist/sexist/blahblah-ist petty ignorant instances in isolation that create the stalemate of decades--burst open that slimy bubble, expose it to air so it can dry out and die, eventually
What has happened/is happening in Tibet? What are information streams and reactions to this week's violence in the Tibet Autonomous Region under China?
My previous post elicited some of the peculiar tones of international journalism--by necessity, because of China's iron-fisted censorship--covering "what has happened"; but here I would just like to point out two jarring case studies of direct media censorship & propaganda, currently being carried out by the state of China, that can be directly observed and experienced by anyone this moment, thanks to our new-media technological era. In essence, China's censorship and propoganda reach extends to you and me, whether we are in New York, Miami, San Francisco, Nashville, or London.
Police showed great restraint and used no lethal force in dealing with the riots in Lhasa last Friday, the chairman of the Tibet autonomous regional government said yesterday.
"The riots caused heavy loss of life and property, and seriously disturbed social order," Qiangba Puncog told a news briefing in Beijing.
Qiangba Puncog
Thirteen innocent civilians were burned or stabbed to death, he said, adding that calm had returned to Lhasa.
On Friday, violence involving physical assault, destruction of property, looting and arson broke out in urban Lhasa. Rioters set fires at more than 300 locations, including 214 homes and shops, and smashed and burned 56 vehicles.
In one case, a civilian was doused with gasoline and burned to death by rioters.
Sixty-one members of the armed police were injured, including six critically. Rioters beat a police officer into a coma and cut a fist-size piece of flesh out of his buttock, he said.
Yet "public security personnel and police showed maximum restraint during law enforcement" and "throughout the process, (security forces) did not carry or use any destructive weapons. Only tear gas and water cannons were employed," Qiangba Puncog said...
Have you ever heard of the China Daily? I hadn't, and hadn't ever come across it before, but wow, at first I was confused at the paraphrase as the first sentence; then quotation; immediately followed by paraphrase, and truly so on and so forth till the end. And every single sentence and phrase from all sources vehemently condemned the rioters and praised the government. And then, in conformity, even every single one of the many links listed under "Related readings"..
I thought for a second I was reading The Onion's satire, but very dark humor. I guess the scary thing is that this China Times article appeared as the 3rd down the list this morning (sitting here in front of my laptop in an apartment in New York) when I simply Googled the Tibet issue. But anyways I looked on Wikipedia what China Times is and it's (according to Wikipedia entry, at least) a CCP State-run paper, so that explains that; though troubling that it's the widest circulating English-newspaper in China..
2) Examples like this abound, and if you have spoken with any friends or relatives who are expats working in China for the past years, you might have already been told about this surreal 1984-ish, propoganda-state aspect of regular access (or lack thereof) to information regarding any "sensitive" issues. But in any case here I would like to point all of us towards a poignant and depressingly intriguing post by a blogger in Beijing, who wrote today,
Tibet News Blackout -
My site is still blocked (I am using an industrial-strength proxy if any on you need one, way stronger than Anonymous and much faster than Tor), and I was called about it yesterday by a "real media." You can find my quote buried in this article.
I've had CNN playing in the background the past few nights, and it's downright comical how often the screen just goes dark shortly after mention of the T word. Once again I ask my friends over at the ministry of propaganda if they sincerely believe with all their heart that this kind of ham-fisted tactic makes China look better, and if they sincerely believe it achieves their goal of keeping CNN viewers ignorant of what's happening in Tibet. If something ugly happens at the Olympic Games in August, are they just going to blackout the media broadcasts? And do they think they will be admired for it?
***
Conclusion of my own sense on all of this, the past few days...
This blogger of the popular blog, The Peking Duck, his name is Richard Burger, and incidentally the article that he was quoted in in Business Week, also had a few quotes and statements that really ring true to me.
Since riots broke out in Tibet last week, authorities have imposed martial law and tried to control the flow of information into and out of the region. The government has banned journalists and tourists from entering Tibet. And officials have imposed strict controls over the Internet in an effort to spin what happened in Tibet and neighboring provinces to conform with Beijing's version of events... With the censoring of Chinese blog and BBC postings that do not reflect the government's position, most of the Chinese postings left standing tend to present an overwhelming resentful attitude towards Tibetans.
And lastly, Rebecca Mackinnon, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong's Journalism & Media Studies Center, is quoted as saying,
"There are a lot of people that think the Internet is going to bring information and democracy and pluralism in China just by existing. I think what we're seeing with this situation in Tibet is while the Chinese government's system of Internet censorship controls and propaganda is not infallible by any means, it works well enough in times of crisis like this."
There has been a significant silence--or more accurately, state prohibition from accessing information and therefore few substantive mainstream media accounts (except for Chinese state-run media and video clips)--about what happened during, immediately after, and in the days following the Tibetan monk protests on 3/10. I think it is very chilling & telling: China's state policies of censorship, media control, and how this manipulation--in essence, propoganda--has truly affected the individual opinions and societal reactions of Chinese citizens to what was assumed to have happened in Tibet.
Now I will keep my comments to a minimal, and let some articles--most of which are eye-witness accounts "who wish to remain anonymous," or non-Tibetan Chinese understandings of and reactions to what has gone on--that I've pieced together, speak for themselves.
3/14: Eyewitness: Monk 'kicked to floor' --BBC Online Sub-headline: "With tension rising in Tibet following a series of anti-China protests, the BBC spoke to an eyewitness who saw police on Wednesday beating monks at one of three monasteries which have been sealed. He wishes to be identified only as John."
3/16: Lhasa eyewitness: 'City in cinders'--BBC Online Sub-headline: "After days of violent street protests, a Western tourist in Lhasa, who wishes to remain anonymous, describes a tense, deserted city firmly in the hands of the Chinese military."
3/17: Chinese react to violence in Tibet--BBC Online Sub-headline: As the deadline for Tibetan protesters to surrender to the police passes, people elsewhere in China give their reaction to the protests and violence in Tibet.
ZHANG YI FAN, STUDENT, BEIJING
Zhang Yi Fan says the Dalai Lama should have called for restraint
I stand by my government on this issue.
The Dalai Lama is the main cause of the suffering of both Tibetans and Chinese in Tibet. He could stop the protesters but he doesn't.
He gave the people who remain loyal to him the wrong ideas and asked kind-hearted people to risk their lives for his political interests.
Our government has had to send in the troops and protect our people to make society stable.
People haven't paid enough attention to the suffering of the Chinese in Tibet. They were targeted by the rioters.
We can't get enough information because the government doesn't let us know what is happening in Tibet. All the information I get is from foreign websites. Many people here don't know there is a serious situation in Tibet. It's just people like me who care about politics.
But I think the government has done the right thing in this instance. Many of their claims can be proved by the footage we have seen of destruction in Lhasa.
YU FU-MING, COMPANY MANAGER, BEIJING
I think Tibet is a small problem that can be resolved. The Chinese economy and Chinese society is very stable now. The economy is growing fast.
Life for people all across China and all its regions is getting better and better.
We must remember that all over the world there are battles between people with differences. And these differences exist in China too.
I think China needs its stability and so I think it is fine for the army to go into Tibet. Every government should show its force and its ability to control troubled situations.
If things are proving difficult to control, the army is the best option.
We get a lot of criticism but the best way is to follow law and government. I think Buddhism is a very good religion and I don't think the monks should act so much against government.
JINJIE CHEN, LAWYER, SHANGHAI
The timing is very sensitive. China is due to have its Olympic Games this year.
Jinjie Chen says people have the right to demonstrate peacefully
I think this is why those people chose this time to riot. Many are unsatisfied with the Chinese government and the country. They want to cause riots, maybe even engage in some terrorist activities before, during or after the Olympic Games.
These people know that it is a huge thing for China to have the Olympics. The world's attention is on us. It is a good opportunity for them to take advantage.
Honestly, I think these are the actions of a small number of people.
But, I have to say, it makes me angry. I think it makes most Chinese people angry. Everyone has their own problems but I do not think that such violent acts are a good option.
We must make the distinction between a peaceful demonstration and violent anti-social acts. I fully understand people who want to make their voice heard and raise their ideas. That is their right.
But I saw evidence that young Tibetans had planned to act violently. They had bought bricks and stones with them. That can't be right.
In Lanzhou, ordinary people appear to know little of what is going on in Gansu's Tibetan regions and beyond.
I understand the disturbance has been organized by the Dalai Lama to target the Olympics
Man in Lanzhou
In the Lanzhou Morning Post there was no mention of the trouble that had erupted just down the road in the province's Gannan Autonomous Tibetan prefecture.
The front-page headline in the Lanzhou Morning Post followed the lead of the previous night's news bulletins, reporting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's re-selection as the county's premier.
When asked about the protests, one woman told the BBC: "The price of consumer goods has gone up very rapidly so I think the demonstrations must be linked to that."
Ordinary people that wanted to comment on the protests had little sympathy with the Tibetans and their cause.
"I think they are causing a disturbance without reason. I understand it has been organised by the Dalai Lama to target the Olympics," said one man.
There are good people in China. Very good people, within China, despite the substantial number of activists currently exiled in the U.S., restricted from returning home because of their past valiant works as Chinese journalists, writers, artists, and activists, for democracy and human rights.
"I met Hu Jia in the autumn of 2001 doing AIDS volunteer work. We fell in love and married on January 2nd 2006. A week after our wedding party, Hu Jia was put under house arrest by the State Security Police (SSP), and after a month he disappeared while under house arrest... He came back from SSP custody, as thin as a lath, became seriously ill and was hospitalized for early stage cirrhosis. I was so afraid he might disappear again that I guarded my lover, and assisted him with his work in AIDS and defending human rights." ~written by Zeng Jinyan, at the introduction to the documentary, Prisoner in Freedom City
In regards to those good people still living within China: the following articles exemplify how the "good" (in terms of talent to club down human rights) government in China has taken action towards those good people--patriots, who, despite the very real fear of Big Brother, continue to speak up for and about freedom and human rights for their sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, and friends together living in China...
...the Chinese government ruthlessly shuts them up, propogates their authoritarianism by "making them disappear":
(I) How nice, how thoughtful of the Chinese government to note and observe our "holiday season" this past December '07.
"The authorities have detained a prominent Chinese human rights advocate on suspicion of subversion, escalating a crackdown on dissent during the West’s holiday season." ~NYTimes, "China Detains Dissent, Citing Subversion," 12/30/07
What a gift! Merry Xmas! xoxo
(II) That "prominent Chinese human rights advocate" mentioned above is Hu Jia. This picture to your right is him with "his wife, Zeng Jinyan, and their daughter, Qianci, in November, before his arrest." Aww. :) That's a real nice picture. Right? Well
"Mr. Hu was dragged away on charges of subverting state power while Ms. Zeng was bathing their newborn daughter, Qianci." ~NYTimes, "Dissident's Arrest Hints at Olympic Crackdown," 1/30/08
The article goes on to describe, heartwarmingly: "Telephone and Internet connections to the apartment were severed. Mother and daughter are now under house arrest. Qianci, barely 2 months old, is probably the youngest political prisoner in China." Sucks to live in China, and to want to speak up for and about freedom. Or to be born in China, under house arrest because your parents want to speak up for or about freedom. I think that is a beautiful picture, I truly do. <---Was I being sarcastic? No, I was just talking about that family photo 2 inches above, and 2 inches to the right...
So what exactly was Hu Jia doing, to deserve and account for so much Chinese state attention, monitoring, and supervision, before his door was metaphorically (and possibly literally) knocked down by "state security agents"?
He disseminated information about human rights cases, peasant protests and other politically touchy topics even though he often lived under de facto house arrest.
WOW! WHAT-A-RADICAL-UNPATRIOTIC-SUBVERSIVE-SHITHEAD-ANARCHIST, that pesky Hu Jia. Hmm... So... What I'm doing precisely right now, typing the words you're reading, "disseminating information about human rights cases," if I were instead simply located on China's soil, and was a Chinese national, I'd abruptly become the latest political prisoner? So that's how the newest generation of energetic citizen-idols seeks fame, over there in China! And yes: even unprofessional, wanna-be, non-journalist bloggers (like me) are and have been thrown in China's pleasant jails.
(III) Let's proceed on this pleasant journey. So today, on NYTimes I see the headline, "Chinese Rights Activist Reported Missing," and I think, No! Hu Jia can't be missing. Hu Jia was taken by the Chinese authorities and is sitting--he must be--safely behind bars; there must have just been some mixup. I mean, how could he be "reported missing"? Must have filed the papers wrong, those wacky Chinese bureaucrats, just like in the U.S. lol! C'mon, even his wife appears safe and sound in that enjoyable YouTube documentary posted above.
But then I find out the "Chinese rights activist" who today is "reported missing" is not Hu Jia, but Hu Jia's friend, Mr. Teng Biao.
"The lawyer, Teng Biao, 34, a part-time college professor, disappeared on Thursday evening after calling to say he would be home in 20 minutes, said his wife, Wang Ling. Shortly afterward, she said, she heard shouting in the parking lot below the family apartment and later found her husband’s empty car. Witnesses told her that two men had dragged someone out of the car and taken him away, she said." NYTimes, 3/8/08
Why are the Chinese Security Officials so fond of practices like making Hu Jia "disappear while under house arrest," and now making Mr. Teng disappear, with the residual impressions of two men "dragging" "someone" "out of the car" "away"?
Don't they know this PR is not magical like David Blaine, but instead is slightly-disturbingly jarring, with a tiny splash of subtle terror lingering under the tongue? I mean, that can't be their purpose, right?, haven't they even glanced at any of the introductory textbooks on good marketing and PR. With all their booming economy, you'd think they would have by now. Maybe the Chinese Communist Party is just better at mathematics, something like
overt suppression + subtle terror once in a while - human rights = running our "stable, stable, stable dammit!," country = keeping our power
Well, enough of this tangent. Let us see what was Mr. Teng's sin--I mean, virtue--that he be graced with this benevolent state action of disappearing?:
Already mentioned above, he is a lawyer; a part-time professor. aka A terrible man.
Made "commentary on China’s record on human rights." Like, duhhhh. Obviously, he wasn't an overly bright or insightful man, either.
Called "for the release of his friend and fellow rights campaigner, Hu Jia." This Mr.-Teng-guy disgusts me.
"Mr. Teng was also in a group of lawyers, many living in Beijing, who represent dissidents and accept politically delicate cases."
Okay, on this last point (and here, I am serious) he is certifiably insane. I mean, sheesh: Who the hell, as a lawyer, would represent dissidents and "accept politically delicate cases"--in a paranoically authoritarian state society, as documented from recent months all the way back to Tiananmen Square "crackdown"--when the rest of China without even trying is getting fat and bourgeois and nouveau riche, as are investors all over the world??? Well, I guess emulation of institutional logic, in progressive Western societies like Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (I mean, c'mon, globalization, right?), might have sufficiently brought consensus towards China's policy of "neutralization of the certifiably insane." So people like Mr. Teng they just disappear. Let's have the Olympics! :) :)
Now what is there that one can do? Become an international relations expert; explain to the CCP that human rights need be centerpiece in a better world, in a better country; how about enacting a boycott or embargo on the Chinese economy? Let's take note of the second-to-last sentence in the article recounting Mr. Teng's disappearance yesterday evening amid "shouting in the parking lot" and "two men dragging someone out of the car and taking him away," conveniently also taking away his vocalist tendencies:
This week was notable for the opening of the National People’s Congress, the annual meeting of the Communist Party-controlled legislature. Typically, the police keep close watch on dissidents to guard against any embarrassing incidents during important political gatherings.
So, China--that is, the Chinese government--has a fear, no, a terrible phobia about embarrassment. Important point being that their fear is not debilitating, though: fear of embarrassment does not debilitate them. In fact, it drives the Chinese Communist Party to crack down on the truly good Chinese people, even more.
Ethics (and for that matter, morals, human rights) is far from the factor that drives, and would drive the Chinese Communist Party to change a hair on their body. Instead, the answer against the CCP's fear-based suppression is the object, itself, of the CCP's fears: embarrassment.
* * *
This is a simple yet crucial call to everyone!:Embarrass the hell out of China's suppression all that you can--especially those whom, like all of us, are free and far away from within the confines of China's vigilante-state borders (excuse me if you are currently reading this in China somehow, despite China's censored internet)--Read about all of China's human rights abuses! Sign and spread all the petitions I've listed below (tell me if you know of any others, I'll add them)! Pass on this blog post to friends, then that'll go to friends of friends, and then to friends of friends of friends!*
(*Remember back when email was new and chain letters were actually cool to send & receive? **Let's bring that idea back, 2.0, ***for the purposes of bringing up China's oppression, ****and for the ends of bringing down China's suppression!!!)
Amnesty International petition: "China currently has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world." "Shi Tao, a Chinese journalist, used his Yahoo! email account to send a message to a U.S.-based pro-democracy website. Seven months later, he was arrested and charged with the vaguely-worded crime of 'illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities'. Urge your Representative to intervene on his behalf and help repair a broken system of neglect of human rights."
PEN, human rights organization and the oldest international literary organization: urges China "to facilitate the immediate and unconditional release of all writers and journalists currently imprisoned and end the practice of detaining, harassing, and censoring writers and journalists in China; abide by China’s pledge that 'there will be no restrictions on media reporting and movement of journalists up to and including the Olympic Games'; and end internet censorship and reform laws t hat are used to imprison writers and journalists and suppress the free exchange of information and ideas on the internet." Add your signature!
At www.humanityatstake.com, listed under Appendix B down the page is a petition I wrote in 2004 "Supporting Democratic Taiwan Against China's Missile Deployment." At the time I wrote that, there were 496 ballistic missiles that China had pointed at Taiwan. 496 already felt like way too many then. That number has grown every year, the growth accelerating and now there are over 1,200 missiles pointed at the peaceful, democratic island country that many of my relatives (and many of your Taiwanese friends' relatives) now live. Add your name to the petition! (I hope to write an updated--sadly, updated with almost 3X as many missiles now--petition soon)
Human Rights Watch's helpful resources and insights about how anyone can take action and "promote human rights in China."
Do not discount the power of embarrassment (via education, via these petitions, or a simple reading, talking about, and passing around of information like all of the stuff in this blog post) to tangibly change China, Change China!, little by little. Just look at the fact that, regarding Sudan's genocide throughout all the years of China's economic partnership and weapons-sale profiting, China has finally, despite a bailout PR campaign defending it's Sudan policy, in little evanescant glimmers, taken some action by "expressing" its grave concern about Sudan's mass killing. This glimmer came only after Spielberg backed out of being an artistic director to the Beijing Olympics, citing "China’s economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan," and other groups' smear campaigns of the "Genocide Olympics."
Like Hu Jia's and Mr. Teng's joint open letter--“The Real China and the Olympics”--that might be the main effort that led to both their imprisonments, you can similarly do a partto Call out China, Embarrass China, Change China.
Welcome to FrogBulletin, where certain topics and issues will be followed here at length and tagged accordingly. If you have any links you think relevant and would like posted here, email the frog and they'll be posted; or feel free to leave comments!
Author of...
Abraham Young (aka "The Frog") is also the author of the upcoming pamphlet-book Humanity At Stake.
The projected publication date for this book is May 19th, 2008. For more info: www.HumanityAtStake.com
I stand by my government on this issue. 
I understand the disturbance has been organized by the Dalai Lama to target the Olympics 
