AAAS Satalite Images of Atrocities in Burma

I'll do a separate entry tomorrow to talk about how earlier tonight went, but in the meantime, I told Cho Cho (one of the organisers and a political refugee from Burma who hasn't been to his mother land since 1997) that I would post information about AAAS's satellite pictures of Burma here on my blog.

So, here's a few helpful links about the AAAS's work to reveal human rights concerns in Burma.

Satellite images show Burma's plight

NEWS ALERT: Burma Army Burns Christian Karen Villages, Satellite Images Show

Satellite Images Corroborate Eyewitness Accounts of Human Rights Abuses in Burma, AAAS Reports Note that here is where some actual images can be found. In addition to the ones on this news report page, you can find more in the full report at the bottom of the page where it says For your conveniance, you can also view a full copy of the Burma report. It is in pdf format, so your computer should be able to read it. If your computer can't open the document, you can downlowed a copy of Adobe Reader here.

I hope these are useful. God bless,

-Fipher

P.S.

Cho Cho told me there are talks of keeping the marches going every saturday untill the violence stops, the Monks and other political prisinors freed, and Burma is really on its way to democracy. However, he also said that they hadn't made any final decition. I gave him my email address so he can let me know when they've made a decision, but he seems like he's probably a busy man, so if anyone else hears news about further activities in Bergen, could you let me know by posting a comment here about it? Thanks!


Ethical axioms are found and tested not very differently from the axioms ofscience. Truth is what stands the test of experience.-- Albert Einstein

Burmese People Loose Ground, and Hope

I was hoping today that I could give only good news about our success in Bergen yesterday, but unfortunately I can't. The Washington Post has reported that the cities of Yangon and Mandalay are quiet and all the monks are locked up in their own temples in their article Myanmar Quiet As Envoy Arrives.

UN Envoy Gambari seemed hopeful, believing he'd be able to talk to all the people he needed to once he got there, but others didn't One women said how she and others have lost hope because the monks, who are now all locked up, were the ones who gave the rest of the population courage to speak up. Without them, it seems, most are afraid to go out. Especially, I suppose, with soldiers guarding all over the city.

This confirms my fears that with international telephone lines cut and internet access severely limited, the Burmese demonstrators wouldn't have enough external support to give them hope. It seems that now all we can do is encourage our own governments to impose sanctions (Not only on the Myanmar Junta government, but on nations who economically support the Junta, such as China), and pray for Gambari's safety and success.

The world must fallow President Bush's example of being harsh towards regimes such as this if we are going to get anywhere towards a world of freedom, peace, unity, and happiness.

In more pleasant news, last night at the art gallery went well I think. A few of the Burmese who had showed up earlier in the day didn't show up for it, but a lot more Norwegians showed up. I'll have to get the few pictures I have onto this PC. Perhaps I can put them onto the MacBook and then transfer them here via iPod Shuffle. (I don't know if I've mentioned it here before or not, but my MacBook can't hook up to the internet here, while the PC won't hook up to the HP Photosmart C3180, which I also use to upload photos from my camera.)

Also, Lisa will be able to come to the gathering tonight at 7 PM at the blue stone, as well as perhaps Anis, a Cameroonian-Iranian Baha'i friend of mine living in Bergen. I also might try going door to door around the building to see if I can get anyone else to come.

In other good news, there has been some progress in the U.S. in giving proof to the world about the humanitarian crisis in Burma.

According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, they satellite images that confirm the stories of many Burmese refugees, that their villages have been burned down and that many new military bases have been built in areas to control the population more forcefully and keep opposition groups from forming strong roots.

Now that that project is done, and with what's going on now, they plan on refocusing their satellite lenses on more main Burmese cities to watch what's going on between the Junta military and protesters.

The Boston Globe has a good article on it here.

That's it for now folks. I'll update later tonight or tomorrow, hopefully with pictures from both tonight and last nights events. God bless, all.

-Fipher



P.S. Remember! 7 PM Tonight at the huge blue rectangular stone in town, Bergen. Berganites be there if you aren't seriously busy, or be selfish pigs! Oh, and wear red!

1:56 PM Edit:

Ok, I should have seen this comming. Things in Burma are a little more complicated as they might seem.The Christian Science Monitor has compiled a little mini-history of modern Burma. Apperently, if we don't talk to absolutely ALL parties, the peaceful protests lead by Buhddist monks could lead to civil war with previousely established septratist organizations.

See Monks rising: the basics on Burma Answers to some of the fundamental questions on a nation in flux.

Mind you, this does not diminish my support for the Monks idea of a peaceful transition to a better sort of government. It simply makes me a little more aware of the situation, a weary of what might happen next.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

Update: Local Burmese Take to the Streets!

Hey, guess what? Bergen has a small population of Burmese immigrants! I found this out today when I went into town wearing red with a bunch of posters. I ended up joining them in their march around town wich ended at the local city hall.

Unfortunately I hadn't braught my camera, but no matter, they braught theirs. They were very grateful for my support for their cause, and requested to take several pictures of my with my posters (one of wich on my back) as well as with them.

After saying hi to Lisa at her workplace, I rejoind them in their march. While I had put up many of my poster around town already, I still had some so I passed them around to fellow marchers to hold up and show people.

Tonight at 6 PM we're meeting again at the Norwegina monument in town, where we will be led to what I beleive to be a Chinese art exibition. Apperently one of the orginisers of the exibition wanted to use it as a venue for the Bermese people, whos oppressive government gets much support from China.

In addition to tonight, we're meeting again at the big blu rectangular block in town tomorrow at 7 PM. In the meantime I'm going to print out some more posters, as well as try to get permition from the local UPF leaders to call myself an official UPF representative in support of stopping the violence against the peaceful Monk-led protests in Burma.

Also, perhaps tonight I'll start writing letters to the MA cenetors and representatives, as well as to the Department of State and the Executive office of President Bush, encuraging their stance against the Junta and for democracy in Burma.

I pray any readers I might have can do all they can in support of this movement for freedom and human rites for the people of Burma.

Myanmar (Formerly Burmian) Monks March for Freedom!

Hello everyone. I suppose many of you have heard of the monks in Myanmar leadeing their people in peaceful protests for democracy. I you guess that I am in full support of their efforts. Well, I wanted to post about it here because Lisa just got a messege on her phone the supporters of the monks are encuraged to wear red today. I am wearing a red t-shirt and red boxers under my pants.

In case you hadn't heard, the Myanmar military government have ignored calls from all over the world (The US, EU, UN, and even their friendly neighbor China) to exercise restraint, especially considering that the last peaceful uprising in Myanma resulted in 3,000 dead. While China won't explicitly condem the junta ruling government, other countries (especially the U.S. of course) are calling for the juna to give in to the monks and allow for a peaceful change to democracy.

One country that I imagine is particularly P.O.'d at the junta would be Japan. According to them, while junta forces were attecking some monks, they also killed a Japanese photographer. I'm sure they will be a strong ally with the U.S. in the U.N., which is pushing for the U.N. security counsil to act on the situation.

Below I'll list a few links about the situation.

USA Today reporter Emily Bazar reports Burmese exiles laud bravery of protesters

AP reporter CHRISTOPHER BODEEN reports China Pleads for Calm in Myanmar

EUX.TV reports Norwegian trade union leader backs call to "wear red"

Seatle Times reporter Henry Chu reports Myanmar citizens take up monks' protest

And so the fight for freedom goes on.

Update: The booklet has been pulled but the Songbook is still there.

Apperently the German government booklet encuraging fathers to touch their baby doughter's clitoris, and more, was in fact something published under the previouse administration. The current chancellor had never heard of it before and has stopped its circulation.

However, the childrens song book that encurages child mastrobation has not been pulled.
Here's lifeste's update article on the issue.

Personally, I am at ease that those two booklets are gone, but I still encurage anyone who cares to write to German authorities to discurage them from continuing to publish the songbook. It is so incredible to me that any of these books were even written, nevermind published and distributed by a government entity.

I know it's Germany, not Norway or the U.S. but I still think it matters to me. If other nations start this kind of stuff it will be looked at by Americans and Norwegians slightly less suspiciously, mand therefore the chance of these sorts of books being forced on our children and teachers will be more likely.

German Government Publication Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy Sex Ed.

Well, what an incredible headline, eh? Well, apperently it's true. I hope this kind of stuff doesn't spread.

LifeSiteNews.com
Monday July 30, 2007

German Government Publication
Promotes Incestuous Pedophilia as Healthy
Sex Ed

Micheal O'Brien,
author on crisis of culture in West, says this "German
state intervention in
family life is a new level of auto-destruction"

By John-Henry Westen
BERLIN, July 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -
Booklets from a subsidiary of the
German government's Ministry for Family
Affairs encourage parents to
sexually massage their children as young as 1 to 3
years of age. Two
40-page booklets entitled "Love, Body and Playing
Doctor" by the German
Federal Health Education Center (Bundeszentrale für
gesundheitliche
Aufklärung - BZgA) are aimed at parents - the first addressing
children from
1-3 and the other children from 4-6 years of age."

"Fathers do not
devote enough attention to the clitoris and vagina of their
daughters. Their
caresses too seldom pertain to these regions, while this is the
only way the
girls can develop a sense of pride in their sex," reads the booklet
regarding 1-3 year olds. The authors rationalize, "The child touches
all
parts of their father's body, sometimes arousing him. The father should
do the
same."

Canadian author and public speaker Michael
O'Brien who has written and
spoken extensively about the crisis of culture
in the West spoke to
LifeSiteNews.com about the shocking and extremely
disturbing phenomenon. It is,
he said, "State-encouraged incest, which in
most civilized societies is a
crime." The development is, he suggests, a
natural outcome of the rejection of
the Judeo-Christian moral
order."

"The imposed social revolution that has swept the western
world is moving
to a new stage as it works out the logical consequences of
its view of man's
value," said O'Brien. "It is merely obeying its strictly
materialist philosophy
of man. If man is no more than a creature created for
pleasure or power. If he
is no more than a cell in the social organism, then
no moral standards, no
psychological truths, no spiritual truths can refute
the 'will to power' and the
'will to pleasure'."

The pamphlet
advises parents to permit young children "unlimited
masturbation" except
where physical injury becomes apparent. It advises:
"Children should learn
that there is no such thing as shameful parts of the
body. The body is a
home, which you should be proud of." For ages 4-6, the
booklet
recommends teaching children the movements of copulation.

Another
product of the BZgA is a song book aimed at children of four and
slightly
older which includes several songs espousing masturbation. The
song-book entitled "Nose, belly and bum" includes one song with the
following
lyrics: "When I touch my body, I discover what I have. I have a
vagina, because
I am a girl. Vagina is not only for peeing. When I touch it,
I feel a pleasant
tingle."

"The wiser and deeper position of
most civilizations recognized that
children need a period of innocence,"
commented O'Brien. "Now the state,
the German state, is encouraging
destruction of this state of innocence," he
added. "This is consistent
with the materialist philosophy that sees all
moral norms and all truths
about human nature as repressive. Pleasure and their
distorted concept of
freedom are their only guiding principles."

According to the Polish
daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, the BZgA booklet is
an obligatory read in
nine German regions. It is used for training nursery,
kindergarten and
elementary school teachers. Ironically it is recommended by
many
organizations officially fighting pedophilia, such as the German
Kunderschutzbund. BZgA sends out millions of copies of the booklet every
year.

"A society such as Germany's which is already in steep
decline, indeed into
degeneration, will only inherit the whirlwind of
violence and further levels of
degradation of their own people," warned
O'Brien.

"It has happened before in Germany. It has happened in
other nations.
Different causes but the same dynamic, the rejection of the
moral order of the
created universe results in radical evil. The German
state intervention in
family life is a new level of auto-destruction," said
O'Brien.

Rzeczpospolita reports that the Eckhardt Scheffer of BZgA
claimed that
before releasing the manual the organization consulted parents,
educators and
child psychologists. 93% of whom gave a positive
evaluation.

Even for a Western nation, Germany's billboards and
television ads push the
limits of public pornography. Last year
LifeSiteNews.com reported that a
very popular teen magazine in Germany
publishes nude photos of teens in sexual
positions which would be in almost
any other nation illegal child
pornography.

With a
licentiousness as the new morality of the secular materialist
establishment
and homeschool a forbidden practice, parents in Germany may well
wonder what
will transpire in public education.

"Will those children who are
not liberated by their parents have special
classes in their schools where
they're introduced to these practices," asked
O'Brien rhetorically.
"If the state intervenes in this way, what won't it
intervene
in?"

O'Brien concluded his comments quoting G.K. Chesterton: "When
men cease to
believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they
then become
capable of believing anything."

To express concerns
to German authorities:

In Canada:

German
Embassy
1 Waverley Street
Ottawa, ON, K2P 0T8
Tel.: 613-232-1101 Fax:
613-594-9330
Email: germanembassyottawa@on.aibn.com

In the US:

German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road
NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
Tel.: (202) 298-4000
The embassy can be
e-mailed from its website: http://www.globescope.biz/germany/reg/index.cfm

In Germany:

President
of the Federal Republic of Germany
11010 Berlin
Germany
Telefon: +49 30
20 00-0
Fax: +49 030 20 00-19
E-Mail: Bundespraesident.Horst.Koehler@bpra.bund.de

Chancellor
Angela Merkel
Willy-Brandt-Straße 1
10557
Berlin
Germany
Telefon: +49 180 272-0000
Fax: +49 1888
272-2555
E-Mail: InternetPost@bundesregierung.de

To
read Michael O'Brien's essay on the Family and the New Totalitarianism
see:http://studiobrien.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&...

(with
files from the July 9 edition of the Polish daily "Rzeczpospolita" by
Aleksandra Rybinska with English translation provided by Joanna Najfeld)

For the origional article, click here.

Prime Minister Brown of the U.K. boycotts inter-union summit, and with good reason!

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/09/brown_snub_to_mugabe.html

I would like to congradulate Prime Minister Brown for standing firm in support of E.U. law and universal concience by boycotting President Mugabe's attendence at the inter-union summit between the European Union and the African Union.

.
President Mugabe is selfish man who does not know what would be truely good for his people(the people of Zimbabwe). He should be looked upon by the world as a criminal, not a world leader worthey of attending an E.U.-A.U. summit.

Cheers to you, Prime Minister Brown!

Sincerely,
Christopher (Fipher) D. Osborn
fipher.blogspot.com

President Ahmadinejad wants to pay respects?

Here's the "Daily News" story.

President of Iran requests tour of Ground Zero on N.Y. trip

BY JAMES GORDON MEEK in
Washington
and ALISON GENDAR in New
York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Thursday, September 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

Print
Email
Suggest a Story
Discuss

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is visiting the United Nations
next week.
Advertisement



Don't even think about it.

The president of Iran - an accused terrorist, Holocaust denier and proud member of the Axis of Evil - had the audacity to request an official tour of Ground Zero when he's in the city next
week.

The NYPD promptly rejected the idea, but that may not stop Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from visiting the sacred ground.

A pokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations said even though the request to visit "Ground Zero and the immediate area" was rejected, hmadinejad still wants to go.

"We are hopeful that we can still work something out with the Police Department" the Iranian spokesman
said.

Just the thought of Ahmadinejad standing on the same ground where the twin towers were destroyed and nearly 3,000
people were killed by terrorists
sickened many victims' relatives,
White House Aides and prominent
politicians.

"He's certainly an enemy of ours," said Jack Lynch, a retired MTA supervisor whose son, Michael Lynch, a firefighter, was killed in the 9/11 attacks.

"He's a nut. How can anyone deny the Holocaust? His presence is not welcome."

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate, and Democratic hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton were among the U.S. leaders who condemned the proposed visit.

"Assisting Ahmadinejad in touring Ground Zero - hallowed ground for all Americans - is outrageous," Giuliani said.

"This is a man who has made threats
against America and Israel, is harboring Bin Laden's son and other Al Qaeda leaders, is shipping arms to Iraqi insurgents and is pursuing the
development of nuclear weapons."

Clinton said Ahmadinejad was not
welcome because he "refuses to renounce and end his own country's support of terrorism."

White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe agreed.

"It seems odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror
would visit Ground Zero," he said.

Little can be done to keep Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, from
visiting Ground Zero like any other tourist. The attack site is about 5 miles from the
UN.

A Secret Service detail, provided to heads of state when they visit the U.S., is expected to accompany Ahmadinejad around the city during his visit.

Ahmadinejad - who has said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and has called the
Holocaust a "myth" - reportedly wants to go to Ground Zero at 10 a.m. Monday.

He will go to Columbia University the
same day. The radical leader will debate the university president over his stance on the Holocaust, Israel and whether Iran supports terrorism and is developing
nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad made an official request to tour Ground Zero and lay a wreath there through the Iranian mission about two
weeks ago, authorities said.

The NYPD denied his request, citing security and logistical concerns after meeting with the Secret Service and Port
Authority officials, authorities said.

A police spokesman said the NYPD
also would oppose Ahmadinejad visiting
the public area of Ground Zero. The
spokesman said no official request had been received.

The Iranian president is a hard-liner who has denied claims by several Americans that he was among the extremists who took them hostage during the 1979 Islamic revolution. He also has stated recently that the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, carried out with the help of intelligence agents.

"Could it be planned and executed without coordination with intelligence and security services - or their extensive infiltration?" he asked in an open letter to
President Bush in May 2006. "Of course this is just an educated guess. Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret?"

Nikki Stern, whose husband was killed on Sept. 11, said Ahmadinejad visiting Ground Zero would amount to a propaganda stunt. "It would be amusing if it weren't so dangerous," she said.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters the U.S. would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a "photo op."

"Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions," he said, such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending its uranium enrichment program.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) was more direct, declaring: "Iran is a terrorist state and its president is a danger to the world."

agendar@nydailynews.com

So... I'm not sure about this myself. My heart is rather torn. On the one hand, we've got to be the better people. Who knows, perhaps if he goes to see the site he'll have some mirraculouse change of heart. Perhaps the spiritual power surrounding the sight will get to him, and he'll end up crying on his knees.

That's what we can all hope and pray for. However, we know this man to be a terrible man. Is he had his way all Jews and Bahais would be extinguished. In fact, for all we know if he had his way all non-muslums would be extinguished. This is not the sort of man who we can expect to be very suseptable to good spititual influence.

If we let him go and he does not have a change of heart, her may pretend, and try to fool America and the world into being less stern with him and his country. The solution, I think would be to allow him to go alone, with absolutely no reporters or cameras allowed in the vacinity while he visits. If it truely effects him he will lead his country to dramatic change. If it doesn't, there will be not pictures for him to use as propaganda.

Sadly, I doubt this will happen, but I will pray for it anyhow. Myricals have happened before and they can and will happen again.

Gay Leader Goes Straight

Alright, so...

You probably easily guess that I am very straight. You might even guess by certain organisations I'm associated with that you could put me in the anti-gay crowd.

Well, you're right on both counts. In fact, I've even supported Vote On Marriage, the MA .org that was the head of the movement to put the gay marriage issue on the MA ballot. Unfortunately democracy failed there and so MA law still relies on the decision of a few court justices instead of the will of the people.

However, I am not so perfectly transparent as that. I've grown up in a fairly new Christian sect who's leader has called the acts of homosexuals the acts of "dung eating dogs". However, like many men who have walked this earth, I've had the tiniest little homosexual thoughts of my own. I've also had my clothed crotch grabbed at without my permission by a seemingly confused(he was in a relationship with woman at the time) Brazilian man who was a bit of a friend of mine. On top of it, the same many who once called gays "dung eating dogs" also preaches love for all people no matter what especially your enemies and especially sinners, because they're the ones who need it the most. Finally, I love science just as much(if not more) than I love religion. I used to be a bit of a computer geek.

So, I'm in a position where I have great interested in the feelings of gay people. I've very interested in being able to definitively answerer the question of nature or nurture. So when I head about Michael Glatze I was rather interested. Not only to hear his story, but to hear how other gays individually react to what he says.

In case you haven't heard the story, here are a couple links.

On WND (World Net Daily), Michael Glatze writes How a 'gay rights' leader became straight

Americans for Truth opinion report: Michael Glatze ‘Comes Out’ of Homosexuality: former ‘Young Gay America’ Magazine Co-founder

I know this story is a little old, but what can I say but that I guess I'm a little slow.

So my question is really posed to other gays. What do you feel about all this? Do you think that what Mr. Glatze has to say is interesting, or do you simply feel that "just because he's discovered he's not gay doesn't mean anything else he says these days is true"? I'd really like to know.

Please post what you think about it either here on my blog or here at B3DMB.

Hi Lisa!

I love you baby, and I miss you.