phorbesie

International Campaign for Food and Freedoms of Burmese People Burmese democratic forces and friends of Burma around the world, calling for an immediate international intervention for food and freedoms in Burma May 29, 2008 Burmese democratic organizations – along with Burma campaign groups – around the world are calling for an immediate international intervention in Burma, reminding the international community that this is the time to bring a change in the military-ruled country. And they call for formation of a “coalition of the willing†among like-minded counties such as U.S., U.K., French, Canada, and Australia, in order to advance a collective interest in ensuring safe and unhindered humanitarian access, as well as for promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms for Burmese people. They strongly criticize the United Nations and Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) for their repeated failure to live up to the international community’s expectation in providing food and freedoms for Burmese people, and for falling into trap the Burmese military junta set. Burmese have suffered again and again under repeated ASEAN and UN's good intentioned but ill fated mediations. ASEAN and UN are simply no match for cunning and cruel Burmese generals who think nothing of breaking their promises. In the past, the end result of the ASEAN and UN failures were only imprisonments of thousands of political activists including our leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of those prisoners died in custody. However, the number of deaths from the current crisis will be a thousand times larger than previous crises. Five days after an apparent agreement by the Supremo General Than Shwe, there is no concrete result on the ground. There are even more restrictions for Burmese donors let alone foreign donors. Even Burmese ex-pat physicians who are planning mercy medical missions using their own resources are subjected to a lengthy visa process. The regime is using police and armed forces not to help those cyclone victims but to force them back to their villages without any assistance. We know how the regime is going to play the game. There will be more meetings and open up a bit each time just to string along the UN. More people are dying everyday. This is time for ASEAN and UN to admit its failure and let French, EU, US navy and international aid agencies handle the situation. At this time, the junta has extended the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi illegally after they exhausted the five year period. They have not shown any goodwill towards their own suffering citizens, political prisoners or the world community. There is no reason to believe that the junta will start to change as a result of more negotiation. Concrete effective action, whose time is way overdue, is the only recourse left. We demand that UN and ASEAN stop the mediation NOW. All the current available information from the international experts indicates that thousands of the cyclone victims are facing the second wave of death due to the outbreak of diseases. UN and ASEAN have clearly demonstrated the world that they were unable to persuade the Burmese military regime to save the lives of cyclone victims. As such, we request the Nations of the International Community willing to act upon the principle of “Responsibility to Protect (R2P)," to proceed with their noble intention to save the thousands of lives before it is too late. Undersigned: Dr. Cynthia Maung (Burma Medical Association) Thailand Win7@loxinfo.co.th Tel: 66-55-544495 Dr Khin Saw Win (Alice) (Burma Medical Association) Canada Alice.khin@ualberta.ca Tel: 780-4924547/780-9529877 Tin Maung Htoo (Canada) Canadian Friends of Burma www.cfob.org Tel: 613-237-8056 tinmaunghtoo@cfob.org Dr. Raymond Tint Way (Australia) Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com Mobile 61 0416220208 E mail jostint@hotmail.com Dr Ko K Lay (UK) Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com Tel: 00 44 07790 427271 drkokolay@yahoo.co.uk Dr. Soe Naung (Jamaica) Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com Tel: 876-995-2875 soehtwe@cwjamaica.com Dr. Aye Min (USA) Concerned Burmese Physicians and Professionals www.cmpp-burma.blogspot.com Tel: 804-512-4669 radiomin@gmail.com Moe Thee Zun (USA) Democratic Federation of Burma wefightwewin@gmail.com Ar Kar Soe (USA) Anti-Dictatorship People’s Freedom Movement www.adpfmburma.com arkarsoee@yahoo.com Tel: 301-213-0605 Yin Aye (USA) Democratic Burmese Students Organization (USA) yindbso@hotmail.com Tel: 301-905-7591 Tin Maung Thaw (General Secretary) (USA) Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma 703-723-4855 tinthaw@yahoo.com Min Yan Naing (Burma) Generation Wave gwbobmarley@gmail.com Ko Ko Aung (Japan) Democratic Federation of Burma (Japan) Tel: +81-9015062893 kokoaung_dfbjp@yahoo.com Kyaw Kyaw Soe (Japan) League for Democracy in Burma (Japan) Tel: +81-9060314394 sayarkway@hotmail.com Khin Sandi (USA) Women on the Move for Burma Tel: 917 445 9222 freeassk@yahoo.com Ko Thant Zin Myint (USA) International Campaign for Burma (New York) Tel: 347-229-4309 icbnewyork@gmail.com Ko Myo (USA) 88 Generation Students (Exile) Tel: 347-668-5046 http://www.pbase.com/komyoe88 E-mail: komyoe_art@yahoo.com Aung Sa Oversea Burmese Patriots (Singapore) aungsayapyi@gmail.com Tel: +65-9487-4413 Taw Thar Gyi (Burma) Democratic Front of the Patriots (HQ) Mindfulness07@gmail.com Shwe Htee (USA) Nonviolent Empowerment Organization shwehtee@yahoo.com Tel: 571-235-4035 Dr. Thi Ha (USA) Burmese Democracy Forum (Fort Wayne - Indiana) Tel: 260-602-1876 Dong Khup (USA) Chin Freedom Coalition Tel: 443-629-3329 Athein & Zaw Min Htwe (88 Generation) (USA) Walk for Freedom Tel: 971 285 7399 Athein168@msn.com Thurasoe2005@yahoo.com Aung Nyaw Oo (Canada) Burmese Students Democratic Organization Tel: 416-262-5447 Aungoo205@yahoo.com Thway Ni Burmese Bloggers without Borders (http://bbwob.blogspot.com/) thwayni@gmail.com Aung Tin (Canada) Chairman (NLD-LA Canada) Tel: 647 343 7871 uaungtin@yahoo.com Yin Htway (Thailand) Joint Secretary Burma Political Prisoner's Union (http://bppuweb.bizhat.com/) yinhtway@gmail.com Tel: 0845755416 Guiding Star (Burma) Contact: nikayman.niknayman@gmail.com www.nikayman.blogspot.com Ko Myat Soe (USA) Justice for Human Rights in Burma ( http://www.jhburma.org/ ) msoe9872@aol.com Tel: 260-615-0575 U Than Aung (Canada) Burma Watch International Tel: (780) 439-7555 Cell :(780) 953-9877 www.burmawatch.org Dr. Win Naing (UK) Burmese Democratic Community Tel: 0208 2067340 walaynaing@aol.com

happy bday guigsy!

thanks AD...and feel free to post wherever you like!

Hope to see lots of you skanks there! Tickets are on sale now. Please come out and support this! Musicians converge for a benefit concert to aid the people of Burma. Bob Wiseman Monkey Junk (featuring Tony D and Steve Marriner) The Murder Plans Host: Comedian Rick Currie Saturday, June 7th, 2008 Barrymore’s Music Hall 323 Bank Street Ottawa 9pm/19+/$15 advance In response to the tragic events following the recent devastating cyclone in Burma a concert has been organized to raise funds for a country in need. Some of Ontario’s finest performers have offered to donate their talents to an excellent evening of entertainment at Ottawa’s premiere music hall, Barrymore’s. All proceeds will go directly to Canadian Friends of Burma and The Humanitarian Coalition . In addition to his reputation as a prolific producer, filmmaker, and avant-garde pianist, Bob Wiseman is arguably one of the country’s most talented songwriters, with a discography that includes eight solo recordings on top of the work he’s done with artists such as Blue Rodeo, Edie Brickell, and John Oswald. With his thought-provoking social commentary Bob Wiseman is an apt addition to the evening and is sure to capture the spirit of the event. Tony D is Ottawa’s Dean of the Blues. For decades he has been developing his talents before growing audiences both at home and abroad. He has recently teamed up with Canada’s preeminent harmonica player, Steve Marriner, to create a new band, Monkey Junk. While the Tony D Band was busy wowing audiences on his many tours of Europe and playing in Bosnia and the Middle East for the troops, Steve Marriner was busy touring the world stealing the show night after night onstage with Harry Manx. Together as Monkey Junk, Canada’s most invigorating blues players have created a world-class sound that is infectious and undeniable. The Murder Plans are fairly new on the Canadian musical landscape, but their Brit-pop sound that blends the Talking Heads with the Clash leave them with a style that is at once familiar and unnervingly catchy. Instantly memorable and immensely danceable, the Murder Plans are quickly emerging as a campus radio phenomenon through their recently released eponymous EP. Cyclone Nargis struck the southwest coast of Myanmar on Saturday, May 3, 2008 with wind gusts up to 240 k/ph. Current figures are estimating that over 1.5 million people have been severely affected, with as many as 100,000 feared dead and more than one million people homeless. Communication lines have been badly damaged and road travel is difficult. The challenges to aid workers in this area are great but with help the obstacles are not insurmountable. The Humanitarian Coalition is a coming together of four Canadian humanitarian relief organizations, CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Québec and Save the Children Canada, while Canadian Friends of Burma is an ongoing organization dedicated to providing support from within Canada for the struggle toward democracy and human rights for all the peoples of Burma. Both are respected and established charities that are focused on helping where help is needed most. All proceeds from this event will go directly to these two organizations. Canadian Friends of Burma will have an information table set up on site. Advance tickets available at: -The Aloha Room, 323 Bank Street, (613) 233-0307 -Compact Music, 190 Bank Street, (613) 233-7626, and 785 ½ Bank Street, (613) 233-8922 -The Ottawa Folklore Centre, 1111 Bank Street, (613) 730-2887 -Vertigo Records, 193 Rideau Street, (613) 241-1011 -Canadian Friends of Burma, 145 Spruce Street, (613) 237-8056 -Online at www.ticketweb.com For more information please contact Heather Forbes at phorbesie@yahoo.ca or call (613) 231-7533.

we're pros i'm back in ottawa basher...hopefully we can pre-party before panic! good times last night.

i had such a great time! went in with pretty much no expectations and thought it was great. many thanks to stone mtn and lassie for the tickets and hospitality. awesome to see you guys i'm very happy.

how does that work exactly? do they feed beans to the cats and the resulting bean-shit gets ground?

old sam for everyone! looking forward to seein ya punk!

europe skanks should also check out Rock Werchter which is an awesome fest in belgium.

thanks. i've decided most will go to CFOB, as they have so many projects to distribute to, and then a smaller portion to Humanitarian Coalition. i just don't like putting all my eggs in one basket details on a benefit coming soon!

and... my apologies if i have ever through my nomenclature caused anyone to unwittingly become a supporter of evil murdering dark lords!

i just got into a very intense and lengthy discussion with an older burmese guy about the country name. here's the deal... in their language, the country is and was called Myanmar. so when you are speaking in burmese you call it Myanmar. perhaps the fact that i was learning burmese when i was there and speaking with people there made me do this moreso. but this guy has just insisted to me that when you are speaking ENGLISH or another foreign language, you should say Burma. so basically in Burmese language it's cool to say Myanmar but in English it is not! Very odd, but I can dig it...I guess his reasoning is that most foreigners have only known it as Burma in the past, so they should not switch over to Myanmar in that case b/c of the legitimacy issue that mattm pointed out earlier. So for foreign people that used to always know it as Burma, you should not change now as that suggests that you are changing for the wrong reason. *the more you know* wow that was pretty intense but we had a good laugh about it after.

i dunno shwa, you started it. maybe just stop being a pain and then you'll be fine

a lawyer, sure. a trusted lawyer? who knows. if i needed representation, i'd trust stonemtn to refer me to someone. either way, if it were me i would have found your snarky comment decidedly UNhelpful hehe

i can't think of a better place. we've all been there. good luck tricky!

happy birthday SP!

we went on a bike trip on the weekend and brought along dirienzo's sandwiches and samosas. it was the best idea ever (thank you, thank you)

I'm kind of debating on who the best organization to give money to is. A little here, a little there? Or just one. Humanitarian Coalition sounds good and CFOB is good but since it's not so much a "charity" as an NGO will most of the money go directly there? Hmmm.

happy birthday afro p!

hahaha that cracked me up listening to. i love the final "Fucker."

this thread intrigues me. i haven't had much roti in ottawa at all! i had one at bluesfest a few years back and didn't like it, but i'm not sure where that was from. this giant shrimp tastiness roti sure sounds yummy

sweet AD! thank you!

happy belated

dear lord davey that pic is scary. happy birthday big cuz!!! hope to see ya soon.

lovely!