Protests @ MindSay

TODAY'S BUZZ Hey, robots, use your brain instead of blindly protesting You want to complain about taxes and bailouts and how the government spends your money, terrific. That's legitimate frustration. Activism and protest is great, and necessary. But do it because you want to, not because you are following orders from ego maniacal talk show hosts.

By Gary Stein | South Florida Sun-Sentinel April 15, 2009

 I don't blame the folks at Fox News for being the promotional engine behind the Tax Day Tea Party protests today. Fox has been laughable for years, and this is just another low-level stunt for ratings. These are folks who will do anything. They will even -- insert your own laugh track here -- hysterically call themselves "fair and balanced" when they have people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly preaching the typical conservative mantra. Spare me. So Fox doesn't surprise me. But what does surprise me are the robotic, non-thinking lemmings who will still take their marching orders from Fox, and other stations' hosts. The hosts tell you to protest your taxes by having a tea party today, so that's what you do. If they told you to jump off a building while naked to protest the existence of liberals, I'm sure many of you would do it. Because Hannity or Beck or O'Reilly or Rush said it was a neat idea. You want to complain about taxes and bailouts and how the government spends your money, terrific. That's legitimate frustration. Activism and protest is great, and necessary. But do it because you want to, not because you are following orders from ego maniacal talk show hosts. The talk show hosts are zillionaires. They don't care about you. All they care about is making more money by predicting doom and gloom and bashing liberals. And it helps them when you follow their orders and have a Tea Party protest, which is a total joke. There is even money being made in Tea Party t-shirts and fundraisers. Do you think YOU will get any of that money? Right. You folks going to anti-tax tea parties are exactly what talk show hosts love -- you are malleable saps. Don't call this a grass roots movement. Call this a "Can't Think for Myself" movement. If you really want to bring about change, then take the time to learn about those running for office, and vote in the right people. And how about actually working at your job today, instead of taking time off to have a Tea Party protest? Or did Beck, Hannity, etc. tell you to take the day off?

(http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/todaysbuzz/wednesday/sfl-tax-government-tea-party-buzz-stein-mm041509,0,6330841.htmlstory)

Seems that blogging is quickly changing our world. Many are using this resource as a powerful activists tool. But in some countries bloggers are finding this can be dangerous!

"Bloggers in some nations are being imprisoned for publicizing human rights abuses over the Internet. Organizations in the free world have been coming to their defense." "Activists who run blog sites to protest restrictions to civil rights and human rights in countries from Morocco to Iran are being harassed, even thrown in prison."

Blogging is a great tool for venting, sharing and expressing your views. But it is also a very effective tool in making others aware of social injustice, political atrocities  and human rights violations.
In the United States where"'free speech" is seen as a right and a privilege, the internet blogging communities provide a great place to "get the word out". But because of their effectiveness some countries see them as a threat.

People of all ages can use blogging to call attention to their "causes and concerns". Hopefully, that will never change. But I am sure and have no doubt that our country as well as others monitors the activities of internet blogging. It doesn't take much to be labeled as a "threat" when your willing to stand up and speak out against the "establishment" especially since the advent of the "terrorist act".

Seems those who protest "war" are a particular target of interest or those who oppose a president ( such as those who opposed president Bush). It doesn't take much to be labeled as a "terrorist" these days. According to Wikipedia :Terrorism has been practiced by a broad array of political organizations for furthering their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments.
So those who speak out against the status quo are seen as potential "trouble makers or possible future terrorists".

America doesn't mind so much those that "speak out" but it fears those willing to step out, march, sit in and protest. Actions speak much louder than words.Tell someone your mad at them and you may not "move them". But stand in their front lawn with sign, bull horns and march around singing "we shall overcome" and your bound to get some action!

Hi everyone,

 

Im writing from Vienna, Austria at my hostel.

 

Its good but I cant check in until 2pm. I think its about 11am now. So Im just going to check out the sights until then. I have a family friend, a Scottish chef who is living and working in Vienna. He speaks English and German. Hes more like my parents' age. So Although I put in 50 cent in euro i have to keep this short.

 

Bangkok was all right. Probablz not mz cup of tea because of the heat and in zour face nature of the people. some were lovelz others were cheats. we were driven around for 45 minutes in a taxi when it should have taken us 5 minutes and we were pressed for time to get back to the hotel and back to the airport. Plus zou donät reallz get anz personal space in thailand. and the tours were a dud most of the time as a scam to sell sapphires or silk at the end which of course we refused to buz, i mean, we alreadz paid for the tours.

 

please excuse the spelling mistakes im on a german kezboard that makes the letters a bit different and i reallz cant be bothered changing mz touch tzping for that.

 

so please note that y is z.

 

Vienna public transport is great it onlz took me 30 minutes bz bus for the journez from the aiport. which onlz cost 6 euro which is about 12 dollars. not too bad considering zoure up for about 30 to get from the airport back home.

 

again sorrz jarrod about zour house warming. i will send zou a post card to zour new address and visit zou when i get back, if im invited that is lol.

 

hope everzones doing ok back home.

 

just thought id write to saz that i was not caught up in the protest riots in Bangkok i know thez made it look prettz scarz back home. I was in the countrz on a dud tour that wasnt a tour. but im glad i wasnt there when all the roads were meant to have been blocked off and someone had been shot. the next daz there were still some road blocks so our tour buses had to go the back entrance to the hotel to avoid all of that.

 

zeah so im just hanging out waiting to call the friend of the familz and sitting in the internet part of the hostel.

 

its quiet at the moment i think i missed breakfast because i took so long.

 

well. i got to go im running short on internet time.

 

ciao everzone

 

from sarah

As much as you like to believe that it's the message that counts when publicly airing your grievances to the authorities, people still judge based on looks.  How you dress and carry yourself does matter.  Let's take a look at various protests throughout history, and what their impact has been.  First, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's:


Before these guys showed up, our darker-skinned friends couldn't even drink from the same drinking fountain as white folks.  Before these protests, they were relegated to being second-class citizens, our nation's "dirty little secret."  Now, unprecedented equality is becoming reality.  Yes, there is a long way to go, but at least a black man and a white man can shit in the same toilet. 
Notice what these protesters are wearing.  That's right, suits and ties, motherfucker.  They wanted equal rights and they meant business.  Wearing a suit gives the impression that you're ready to kick ass and take names, and these civil rights pioneers did just that.  Let's now contrast them with this group:


Not a suit or tie in the bunch, and this woman in front apparently wants to impeach her breasts.  We also see in the background a bastardization of the American flag.  Never mind how they look, what about the message?  We're still in Iraq, and congress keeps voting to funnel more money in it.  So much for the effectiveness of protests, huh?  The problem here is that dressing (or in this case, not dressing) like a radical is going to (surprise!) make people think you're a radical.  Seriously, what does the gay pride flag have to do with Iraq?  Why does this hairy-armpitted female believe that almost baring her breasts is going to make a statement that average people can relate to?  That's the whole issue here.  A protest is not to just petition the government, but to gain popular support for your cause.  Popular support votes the right politicians into office, where real change can occur.  Let's take a look at another protest.


Here are some slightly more respectable ladies trying to gain the right to vote.  As you can see, they're dressed in the traditional attire of the day.  Can you imagine a women wearing nothing but a "Votes for Women" sticker over her bare breasts getting results like these ladies?  Neither can I.  The results are what matter here, and obviously, the better-dressed protesters win again.

I recently read of a group of students protesting the Iraq war in suits, which came as a surprising but welcome shock to the rest of their group.  Why is it such an unusual thing to wear good, decent-looking clothes to a protest?  Why is it that people think they'll be taken seriously even though their march looks like a hobo parade?  All it does is cement the mentality that people who petition the government for a redress of grievances are all stinky, drug-taking, hippie freaks, and not everyone wants to be associated with that kind of lifestyle.

Casual dress at a pickett line also gives the impression that you aren't serious about your issue.  Suits and ties make people take notice, they make people realize that you take this shit seriously, that this isn't just a fun weekend outing for you.  Maybe after more of us realize this, the more we can all get done.

I haven't been to Burma, I don't personally know any Burmese, nor I have eaten Burmese food. But they are my neighbors, and that's reason enough.

It is odd, in a very unsettling way, that my country and Burma share the same political problems.  In the early 70's, the Philippines was under the Martial rule, remember Marcos?  In about the same time, Burma was pushing towards militarism.  The people's champion Aung San was himself a general.  We are both third world countries very rich in natural resources and labor.   Despite these riches, our countries are still trapped in this never ending cycle of poverty and mendicancy.  We import skilled labor to the point that we can hardly support our own people's needs. We are both religious, they Buddhist and us Catholic.  Religion plays an integral part  and influences the daily aspects of our lives.  From conception to ascension. From dawn to dusk. We both have active and vibrant media, but to practice is risky. We have very progressive pro-democracy activists.  But we know what happens to them in the hands of our fascist governments. We had Corazon Aquino, they have Aung San Suu Kyi. We had our EDSA People Power Revolution of '86, and I am hoping they'll have their own soon. 

May the Burmese people learn from our mistakes and never have to repeat their EDSA like we did, twice.