Full Disclosure

So much for extreme, grandiose statements… I’ll try to avoid those in the future.

As it turns out, this is already having a negative effect on my health. It isn’t serious, but it does mean that I’ll need to eat a bit more than rice. I’m going to stick mostly with rice, two meals a day, and supplement that with a small regular meal (some sort of protein perhaps). That should work out. My health is important to me and to those I love. I’m not a hard-core hunger striker. Still, even this really lets one know just how fortunate we are as Americans! Those displaced villagers hardly have options, and yet here I am able to say, “Oh, I have low blood sugar and will fall unconscious and require hospitalization if I don’t have a bit fuller diet.” Still, even this humble “fast” will be meaningful and challenging for me over the long-term. I pray that change comes soon.

I apologize for not being as good at this activism stuff as some other, better men and women but, as the quote over on the side says, the world won’t wait for perfect people to come along and fix everything so we need to all do what little we can along the way.

Anybody who finds this subject of interest, please see the US Campaign for Burma website. I’m not a member myself, but I find that they have good intentions and take appropriate actions.

~ NG

Letter to Congress

[I sent the following letter to my Senators and Representative in the United States Congress. I can only pray that it works. Feel free to use all or part of it in your own letters, e-mails and phone calls.]

Ave [Senator Isakson, Senator Chambliss, Representative Linder],

I am generally somewhat of an isolationist when it comes to international affairs. I make exceptions, however, for severe human rights issues. The situation coming to a head now in Burma is one such issue, and I cannot sit silently and watch it unfold.

Around 200 peaceful protestors, including Buddhist monks, have been killed in Burma for nothing more than wanting liberty and democracy. This number doesn’t even scratch the surface.

Hundreds more have been beaten and/or arrested. Over 3000 civilian villages have been attacked and destroyed by the Burmese military. Buddhist monasteries have been ransacked. Rape and torture are used as tools of social control. What we have here is not a case of a sovereign nation taking care of its own internal business in a manner which we find to be slightly distasteful; it is a full-blown atrocity which we, as liberty-loving Americans and as a moral people, must confront.

I understand that the UN has attempted to come to some decision on this matter, but has been stalled-out by China’s refusal to cooperate. China, of course, has its own sordid history of human rights violations (to use the polite term), and is now facilitating yet more slaughter and degredation of Buddhist practitioners (who, regardless of faith, are fellow human beings first and foremost) in yet another nation.

I humbly but passionately ask that you, and your colleagues in Congress of all political parties, do something, anything, in your power to help the UN in moving forward on this issue. I am not advocating military action, but diplomatic and economic actions which are well within the power of the UN and UN member nations.

Until such time as there is some level large-scale of decisiveness by the international community, I will be eating mostly rice and drinking only water to show my solidarity with the Burmese people and to illustrate a small part of their hardships: the diets of the internal refugees, displaced populations from the destroyed villages, consist mostly of rice and water as they do their best to hide from military forces who will arrest, beat, rape, and murder them on sight.

Thank you, and God bless.

In Peace Profound,
Nicholas Graham [last name withheld]

An Important Open Letter

Avete Brothers & Sisters,

As anyone who has looked at this blog recently can see, we are concerned over the current situation in Burma. I wish I had known enough about this before, but unfortunately this long-term situation is only now coming to the attention of most Americans.

Not only have numerous civilians and Buddhist monks alike been beaten, arrested, and killed already, but the UN’s efforts to intervene have been stalled by China’s refusal to do anything about the situation. I may not be a big fan of international interventions, but human rights violations are my one exception. I find the lack of a concrete international response to be unconscionable in light of the desires of the men and women involved in the peaceful uprising. What are these desires which produce such intense rage in the hearts of the Burmese military government? Liberty, democracy, and the simple right to life. These are similar to the reasons why China has done everything in its power to stem the tide of popular Buddhism within its own borders and abroad. Buddhism encourages liberation and discourages the fear of earthly powers.

That said, I will begin a partial “hunger strike”* in which I will eat only simple rice and drink only water to simulate the diet of those thousands of villagers who have been displaced since the takeover of the military junta in Burma. And yet I still will have many advantages: my rice and water will be clean and disease-free, and I will not have to walk through wilderness in constant worry of being caught by military guards who will arrest, rape, and/or kill my family and friends on sight.

I do this to make myself realize in some small way what these people are going through. Also, I hope that this will bring some measure of attention from my friends and family, that I may share with them just what this issue is really about and how terrible it is.

Throughout this process, I will be sending e-mails, letters, and phone calls to members of congress, to the UN, to the Olympics council, and to the Chinese government. I will not return to my “regular American diet” until some significant progress has been made and the UN has succesfully come to an arrangement with Chinese cooperation.

I ask that anybody who reads this, anybody who values liberty and life, make their voices heard among the governments of the world. Let it be known that you are a peaceful person, in favor of a peaceful resolution to the world’s problems. Stand up for your ideals!

In Peace Profound,
Nicholas Graham

*I only use the term hunger strike because I don’t know what other term to use. I’m not actually striking from anything, or trying to get anybody’s attention with this stunt. It’s just a way for me to try to understand in some small way what the displaced villagers and imprisoned protestors have to put up with. In the interest of full disclosure, it turns out that I’m hypoglycemic and I will unfortunately have to supplement my diet a little bit to keep from being hospitalized and unconscious. Ah well… So much for grand ideas. Still, it makes me realize just how lucky I am!

Burma Again

For those who don’t understand the intense severity of Burma’s current protests and human rights violations, please please take a look at Ko Htike’s blog. Want to do something? Check out the US Campaign for Burma.

~ NG

Monks, the new freedom fighters!

In Myanmar, or Burma, the citizens are facing an enormous catastrophe due to increasing military control over the populace. What is more than this is that Buddhist monks seem to be targeted now as they continue to lead rebellions and anti-government protests. May divine providence shine down upon these warriors of peace!
Myanmar

- Griff

PS – Forget the U.S. Marines, these Monks are the ones who deserve an oorah!

Legalized Reincarnation?

China enacts legal regulations on the reincarnation of Buddhists. As this MSNBC article points out, beyond the absurdity of the proposition lies one more attempt by the Chinese government to undermine any sort of non-governmental religious movement, especially one which emphasizes liberation from all worldly powers. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to control the reincarnation of a high Tibetan religious leader; the Panchen Lama has recieved such treatment already.

(Cross-posted to Chymical Wedding.)

~ NG

Trouble in Burma

For those who have not noticed, the Burmese military government has had some trouble lately with all those pesky Buddhists and civilian protestors who are upset about Burma’s human rights violations. Burma’s response to the protests? Automatic gunfire and tear gas grenades. Murdering a Japanese journalist. Lying about the death toll. You know, standard stuff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/28/nosplit/wburma128.xml
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/27/1435255

All I can do is to pray, and to ask others to pray. If you can do anything else, do it. Civil rights are universal, not regional.

~ NG

What Geneva Convention?

It is sort of alarming when something like this even ends up in mainstream news…

American Snipers Baiting Iraqis

What is interesting here is that the snipers are taking shots at “suspected” but not confirmed terrorists.

- Griff

Oh Cid….

the heat is on…

Iranian Presidential Debate 

Guantanimo Bay sounds familiar…

- Griff

Israel and America love doing business

The Gaza Strip

So there is an interesting article here that details the upcoming meetings about what to do with that little sliver of land called the Gaza Strip. Apparently, it looks to me like the Palestinians are going to get f’ed.

The US has mirrored the decision of Israel and declared the Gaza Strip to be a “hostile entity”.

Even though, the U.S. fails to realise that during the Lebanese / Israeli conflict recently, Hamas aided the civilians in Lebanon by helping them in their rebuilding and reconstruction. Will the Palestinians ever get their land back that was unjustly taken from them or is it still 1967?

- Griff