Please watch and listen to this video for the Greatest gutiar solo by the worlds greatest guitarist

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - 12.05.08. Protesters demonstrate opposite 10 Downing Street against the Counter-Terrorism Bill in London, England on 12th May 2008. The Bill includes plans to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects from 28 to 42 days. Parliament is due to vote on the Bill in June 2008. (Photo by Marc Vallée/marcvallee.co.uk) (c) Marc Vallée, 2008.

"Longer terror limit 'unnecessary'" - BBC News.

"Extending pre-charge detention for terror suspects" - liberty-human-rights.org.uk.

"Terrorism Policy" - guardian.co.uk/politics/terrorism.

For rights managed editorial licensing click on the link below or contact us.

Images : "Counter-Terrorism Bill - Protest - (12.05.08)"

Clients : Images are available for rights managed editorial licensing. High resolution images are available on request.

Archive Link : www.archive.marcvallee.co.uk

CLEARWATER — About three dozen downtown business owners are upset with a group of anti-Scientology protesters and want the City Council to do something about them.

But city leaders Tuesday said there's little they can do.

"Suspending the First Amendment is something we shouldn't spend a whole lot of time on," Councilman Paul Gibson said.

The loosely organized group Anonymous has held several recent demonstrations against the Church of Scientology. Many Cleveland Street businesses say the masked protesters and the constant chanting have begun to take a toll.

They say the monthly demonstrations are turning away customers and ruining the overall ambiance of a downtown that city leaders have spent years trying to revitalize. And, they say, the protesters are scaring away people.

A petition signed by 34 merchants and two residents asked the council for "assistance in this matter."

[...]

On Tuesday, the City Council spent less than two minutes discussing the issue. The members agreed to send a letter to the businesses, saying they would not address the issue.

"I'm glad the City Council recognized our rights as Americans to gather to speak our opinions and protest," said Joshua Nussbaum, 19, a student in Hillsborough County and local Anonymous organizer. "They did what was right . . . and we will continue to do what we think is right."

The majority of the business owners who signed the petition are Scientologists, which led some in Anonymous to question whether the church had a hand in the petition. But Church of Scientology spokeswoman Pat Harney and a number of business owners who spoke with the Times on Monday denied it.

Prin acest articol consfintit in Constitutie, este garantata siguranta familiei ca celula de baza a societatii in procesul progresului nu doar spiritual al omului dar si a societatii in general. Familia este fundamentul societatii care nu poate fi distrus.

Si stiu ca Tara noastra inca mai are fii care s-o apere!

Mine va fi o zi mai buna...

Asta am vrut sa spun!!!

Can you imagine what type of unadulterated nonsense we will all be subjected to once Obama is declared the Democratic Nominee? Some white folks are going to go ape shyt crazy and start foaming at the mouth at the thought of a brotha actually inhabiting the "White House". We're already getting a taste of it from the MSM political pundints such as Pat Buchanan with his piece on "A Brief for Whitey" in which he states "America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships" and his more recent post defending Clinton for the "Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again" statement .

Some will be so frightened that Obama has gotten so close to the White House that they will no longer attempt to hide their hatred for those they perceive as different or inferior. Some will use this division to garner votes, ratings and attention while others will use the division in a more sinister way to swell their ranks and promote their divisive agendas. This entire "race" issue is causing us to miss the larger picture - we are facing some of the worst economic and social issues of our times and if we do not learn how to come together - this country is going to tank and it won't matter if you're white, black, pink or purple. We are about to see folks true colors......hopefully the good will outweigh the bad.

Here's an example of the bad masquerading in ignorance:

aufhänger des protests ist der umgang der fh aachen mit studiengebühren, die zum beispiel lustig kassiert, aber dann nicht direkt verausgabt werden:

Abkassiert wurden rund 5.200.000 Millionen Euro, verbraucht jedoch nur 3.700.000 Euro. Das verbleibende Viertel parkt in Form von „Rückstellungen“ nutzlos auf FH-Konten. Wobei „nutzlos“ nicht ganz stimmt, denn 1,5 Millionen werfen solide Zinsen ab und nach Aussagen des Senats „…nehmen wir diese Zinsen gerne mit!“ Das Studiengebühren nicht gewinnbringend auf Bankkonten fett werden dürfen, stört die Hochschulkönige nicht sonderlich.

darüber hinaus protestiert der asta auch dagegen wie die herrschenden mit den studierenden in den gremien der akademischen selbstverwaltung umgehen:

„Lästigerweise“ gibt es aber Student[Inn]en, die gerne wissen wollen, was aus den Studi-Moneten wird und Senatssitzungen (Die nächste ist übrigens am 15.05.2008) sind schließlich öffentlich. Da kann man Fragen stellen, speziell solche, die die bisherigen Ausgaben betreffen und den nächsten Haushaltsansatz berühren. Wobei Haushaltsansatz an der FH formal nicht der richtige Ausdruck ist, denn dem Senat wurde seit Jahren keiner mehr zur Beschlussfassung vorgelegt. Davon ließen sich die studentischen Vertreter jedoch nicht abhalten und stellten z.B. die Frage:

Ob die Höhe der Studiengebühren zukünftig dem wahren Bedarf angepasst würden, reagierte der Herr [...] (Prorektor für Finanzen ) verschnupft : „Nein, wird nicht !“ Die etwas relativiertere  Frage: „Wird denn wenigstens drüber nachgedacht?“ beschied er in gewohnter Weise: „Nein, auch nicht!“ „Aber wenn jetzt schon 1,5 Mio. nicht verausgabt werden konnten, sind es im nächsten Jahr dann 3 Mio. Rest!“ – „Wir werden vorerst nichts ändern“

das plakat ist jedoch nicht ganz verschwunden. bis zur rechtlichen klärung will der asta offenbar nichts anbrennen lassen und hat über ein paar zensiert-balken, über verfremdete bilder von personen des öffentlichen lebens und worte wie "Bewaffnung" und "räuberischer" gekleistert:

Question: Should more individuals take note and even participate in the international boycott of the Beijing Olympic games or is the location of the Olympics really unimportant?

Just a quick suggestion to local business owners concerned about their financial viability. Y'know what can really hurt your business? Having it located in a town that a malevolent cult is trying and having some success in taking over as their mecca. A recent Gallup study has demonstrated an unsurprising social trend: Scientologists are the least trusted religious/spiritual group in the US. So when retirees who are interested in flying South for their Golden Years, some are probably not going to want to live in a town over-run by aggressive cultists. And when vacationers are picking amongst Florida hotspots, which of the following are they most likely to have an immediately negative opinion of: Daytona, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Orlanda, or Scientologisrael? (Note: I am not implying that contemporary Judaism is morally comparable to Scientology).

For more on Scientology, click here.

Movement

Hands & Feet

Speechless

Powerless

Death

ABORTION

I was browsing some blogs and came across a blog discussing abortion. (Read it here)
It'll piss you off
Make you sad
It's truth
Powerful
Real
Depressing
Unignorable
Abortion needs a reaction

How many time do we react to the act of abortion but in a way that makes God disgusted that we reacted at all?

As Christians, we are called to love, regardless. Do we love them when we find out they have done something we hate? Do we love them in the midst of their sin?

This goes so much deeper than just abortion. However for now the question is as followed:

How can/should we react towards abortion, for the woman and the child?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is a part of WaterCooler Wednesday @ Randy Elrod's site.

(Read all posts on the Viet Weekly protest here, the Nguoi Viet protest here.)

The Yahoo! group "diendancongluan,"a huge mailing list that generates more than 100 emails every day including weekends, has been running two parallel polls since May 5 seeking input on the two protests. Major players in both protests regularly participate in this mailing list, including Ky Ngo and Cung The Tran, two of the three defendants sued by Nguoi Viet.

One poll asks, regarding Viet Weekly, to choose from 5 choices: (a) End the protest; (b) Do not end the protest; (c) Protest until the publication closes; (d) Viet Weekly is on the communists' side; (e) Viet Weekly is on South Vietnam's side.

(Although the choices don't seem to be mutually exclusive, people can only vote for one.)

A second poll asks the exact same questions, regarding Nguoi Viet. Both polls are slated to close May 31.

So far, the polls have not attracted too many takers. Out of a massive membership of 3412, only 16 have voted in the Nguoi Viet poll, and even fewer, 9, have voted in the Viet Weekly poll.

The current standing shows, for the Nguoi Viet poll:

11 to end the protest,
1 not to end the protest,
0 to protest until Nguoi Viet closes,
3 that Nguoi Viet is on the communists' side
1 that Nguoi Viet is on South Vietnam's side

As for Viet Weekly (pictured above):

1 to end the protest,
0 not to end the protest,
3 to protest until Viet Weekly closes,
5 that Viet Weekly is on the communists' side
0 that Viet Weekly is on South Vietnam's side

The low participation rate may be a function of how a Yahoo! group poll works: Only those with Yahoo! ID's can vote, and votes are not anonymous.

Din cate spune legea in campania electorala nu se pot oferi de catre partide, decat obiecte cu o valoare materiala mica, ca de exemplu: pixuri....se pare ca "astia" fac orice pentru un vot.

NU VOTATI! eu nu votez

Today, we received waves and people helping us travel safely! It was so nice! I feel like we are already making small changes... :) I love it! If we go to coops tomorrow, we will bike! If we can't make it I still want to try to make it to the library!!! :) WooT!

My button isn't ready today, but it will be by tomorrow hopefully. I am doing my due diligence because this graphic will be printed onto shirts for me and the girls! We are looking at selling some tees and putting all proceeds towards more environmental changes!

It seems like people today are too complacent. We need role models from the 60s and 70s. Let's have sit ins and peaceful rallies! Do it in the name of your families! There are so many out there right now that are loosing everything they have because of gas! Let's do what we can to stop this before it happens to us all!

Spread the word!

Im Zentrum der Campuswoche steht das "FU Campus Camp" im Innenhof der Silberlaube, welches den Austausch zwischen den Studierenden ermöglichen, sie mit Infomaterial versorgen und Ausgangspunkt für Aktionen sein soll. In der Einladung heißt es:

"Jetzt ist endlich soweit: In der nächsten Woche, d.h. vom 13.-16. Mai, werden wir an der Uni ein tolles Camp aufbauen, um innerhalb dieses Freiraums durch Workshops, Gespräche, Diskussionen, spontane Aktionen, gemeinsames Kochen und vieles mehr die darauffolgende Aktionswoche einzuleiten und vorzubereiten.

Neben dem mobilisierenden Effekt, den wir hoffentlich durch das Camp und die vier Infopunkten auslösen werden, können wir die Zeit zudem nutzen, um uns kennenzulernen, Spaß zu haben und Auseinandersetzungen über grundsätzliche Fragen des politischen Handelns zu führen, die über Orga-Kram und Hochschulpolitik hinausgehen. Und das bei tollem Wetter, Grillen, Musik und netter Atmosphäre!" ("Auf zum FU Campus Camp", BBFB Blog, 10.05.08)

Erste optische Eindrücke des Camps gewinnt man durch je eine Fotostrecke im BBFB-Blog und bei Anna im Bildungswiki (einfach etwas runterscrollen).

Unterdessen gehen einige KommilitonInnen auch einen Schritt weiter und campen tatsächlich im Camp, veranstalten also quasi ein "FU Campus Camp Camping". Konkret meint das, dass die Beteiligten vorhaben im Innenhof der Silberlaube mit Zelten und Schlafsäcken zu übernachten, um so doch noch ein bisschen Besetzungsstreik-Feeling und Lagerfeuer-Atmosphäre zu erzeugen. Ob sie die erste Nacht gut überstanden haben oder ob sie durch die Polizei bzw. die FU Security unsanft vom Gelände befördert wurden, ist zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt noch unbekannt.

Unklar ist auch, was mit dem geplanten zweiten "Campus Camp" in Lankwitz passiert ist. Da man darüber nichts mehr liest, ist wohl davon auszugehen, dass man sich darauf beschränkt hat, doch nur ein Camp in der Silberlaube aufzubauen. Vielleicht erscheint dieses zweite Camp auf dem Campus Lankwitz auch erst zur kommenden Aktionswoche.

Heute (14.05.) findet zudem um 12 Uhr im Hörsaal B des Henry-Ford-Baus die zweite OSI/PuK-Vollversammlung statt. Thema wird dort insbesondere sein "Was wollen wir erreichen? Wie wollen wir es erreichen? Wer hat Lust, was zu machen?".

Dies sind wichtige, zentrale Fragen, die m.E. aber eben bereits auf der 1. OSI/PuK-VV hätten geklärt werden müssen, um die Ideen und Forderungen anschließend zusammmen mit entsprechenden Ausarbeitungen anderer dezentraler VVs auf der Gesamt-VV zu präsentieren und dort zur Abstimmung zu stellen.

Obwohl die Mehrheit (oder zumindest viele) der Anwesenden auf der 1. OSI/PuK-VV diese 2. OSI/PuK-VV wollten, steht zu befürchten, dass sie etwas versacken wird (weil damals auch nicht deutlich gemacht wurde, welchem Zweck diese 2. VV eigentlich konkret dienen soll), dass also auf dieser 2. VV weniger KommillitonInnen auftauchen werden und die ja vorhandende inhaltliche Relevanz letztlich nicht das nötige Gewicht bekommen wird. Die Ergebnisse der VV werden vermutlich zu wenig Einbindung in den weiteren Verlauf des Protestsemesters erhalten.

Ähnliches ließ sich zumindest bei der 2. Geschichte/Kunstgeschichte-VV beobachten, wo einerseits erstmals diskutiert wurde, was man eigentlich konkret fordert, was geändert werden müsste (siehe FSI Geschichte Blog), andererseits aber auch nur halb so viele Studis anwesend waren, wie auf der 1. Geschichte/Kunstgeschichte-VV (siehe LHG Blog) und die Ergebnisse der VV offenbar auch im Nachhinein nicht stärker thematisiert werden.

Denn dadurch, dass sich die Mehrheit der protestwilligen Studierenden jetzt auf die Campus- und Aktionswoche samt Workshops konzentriert, besteht natürlich die Gefahr, dass die Ergebnisse der zweiten Runde von dezentralen VVs zur Randnotiz werden, da es keine Gesamt-VV mehr gibt, die dann eine Gesamt-Resolution verabschieden könnte.

Denkbar wäre natürlich, dass die Forderungen und Durchsetzungsstrategien dann zumindest in einigen der Workshops wieder aufgegriffen werden. Im Kern des Protestsemesters scheinen sie aber offenbar nicht zu stehen.

Expressing a political opinion:

The times become more and more political. Alright, I'm only able to speak from the point of view of a German boy but at least in this country expressing an opinion is more than just saying what you think about a certain topic. It's rather expressing whether you feel comfortable in your society you were born in and whether you either want to keep sitting on your lazy ass and watch TV commenting pertly and undifferentiated on whatsoever the anchor man is talking about or dealing with a subject first and then standing up for an issue you're worried about.

Of course, it's everyone's personal decision. I would never condemn someone for being that type of guy I described above but, you know, somehow, I think these people are poor - poor in life. Because an essential part of being alive for me is quite honestly being able to speak up to let other people hear you.

And wearing a t-shirt that's criticizing a foreign government because everybody knows it's doing pretty disgustful and unjust things is that kind of speaking up.
I even think it's better than spoken criticism: Firstly, you don't have to open your mouth for every little piece of opinion you're saying and secondly you are able to express your opinion everywhere you're going: along the streets, in school, on parties. It's pretty simple...

Looking good

Little question: Would you rather wear a green, purple, orange rainbow protest shirt than the normal version? I guess - hope hope - not.

So never claim you're wearing a protest shirt just because of the righteous meaning! Of course, you also evaluate whether you look good in a shirt or just like a freaking maniac.

That's why it's also damn important for such organizations to not just smack their slogan on a shirt and get it printed. These Tees have to match with great ones from Threadless.com, demockratees.com and so on that do also have political meanings.

This is not just any tree-clearing program, mind you. The memorial sakura trees were planted back in 1977 by first-generation Japanese Canadians to mark the 100th anniversary of the arrival of Canada's first-recorded Japanese immigrant. Adding more weight to the proceedings is the long relationship the Nikkei community has had with Oppenheimer Park.

Somewhat ironically, the parks board participated (and sanctioned) the planting three decades go. Today, however, they insist that the sakura trees have outlived their life span.

Hence the rise of the The Coalition for Saving the Legacy Sakura of Oppenheimer Park, which consists of various Japanese Canadian organizations committed to preserving this important part of Vancouver's heritage.

Sign the petition here 

O 6.00 rano ABW wkroczyło do byłego rzecznika kontrwywiadu wojskowego i członka komisji weryfikacyjnej Piotra Bączka. Nie ma z nim w tej chwili żadnego kontaktu. Nie wiadomo co jest powodem tej rewizji i co dalej stanie się z Bączkiem - pisze prawicowy portal Niezależna.pl, dodając, że sprawie towarzyszy bokada medialna.

Dalej dziennikarze portalu budują prawdziwy thriller:

pod dom Piotra Bączka podjechał niebieski Ford Mondeo z przyciemnianymi szybami. Wysiadło z niego czworo funkcjonariuszy Agencji Bezpieczeństwa Wewnętrznego – dwóch mężczyzn i dwie kobiety.

Po wejściu do mieszkania Bączkowi odebrano telefon, zasłonięto też zasłony w oknach – tak, by nikt nie mógł zobaczyć co dzieje się w środku [...] Piotr Bączek jest dziennikarzem – pracował w „Gazecie Polskiej”, był redaktorem naczelnym tygodnika „Głos”. W 2006 r. został rzecznikiem prasowym komisji weryfikacuyjnej WSI, potem Służby Kontrwywiadu Wojskowego.

No, no... Swoją drogą: skąd oni wiedzą, że to był niebieski Mondo? Spali pod tym domem,czy jak?

W dwie godziny później (13:23) portal odnotowuje kolejny skandal:

portal onet.pl, będący, podobnie jak TVN, własnością koncernu ITI, umieścił pod informacją o akcji ABW wpis atakujący w sposób oszczerczy "Gazetę Polską".

Cóż to za wpis bandycki? Otóż... chodzi o odnośnik do komentarza Azraela, który zareagował na rzeczywiście dość ekscytujące wydarzenia jako jeden z pierwszych; sami przeczytajcie jego uwagi i zobaczcie, czy jest tam jakikolwiek "atak", w dodatku "oszczerczy". I ta śliczna aluzyjka do ITI... Miodzio, słowem.

Kolejne trzy godzinki (16:59) , i...

Dear Jigme Duntak

Thank you so much for your lovely Blog.

My name is Dennis Holmgreen, and I'm the leadsinger, and thus representing, the Danish band: Shire.

We've been following the Free Tibet Campaign closely and came to the point where we felt that we had to contribute the best way we can. We write songs - so that was what we did. We are convinced that music can be a powerful tool to spread a message, and the Internet to spread that message worldwide. So we made a video to the song we wrote: "The Identity Beneath Every Tyranny", and uploaded it to YouTube. The song and video are given away for free to everyone, so you may use it as you please.

Thank you for everything you do in the struggle for a Free Tibet.

Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=oyCkCOMjeJk

Music: http://shire.dk/album_RB.html

Best Regards

Dennis Holmgreen

Friday 9th May
----------------------------
Around 100 people gathered for a follow up demo to the April 22nd. The point was to show that the Occupation of A.L. wasn't just a flash in the pan and that Reclaim the Uni is an ongoing campaign.

With sunshine and soundsystem, the crowd marched jovially round to John Rylands then took the back route towards Arthur Lewis. The front doors were locked and extra security had been stationed. But it wasn't our intention to occupy the same building again. We like to keep things fresh. Instead, the crowd made good use of the ridiculously large foyer in the new SCAN Building, with a mass study-in. Many observed it's the best thing the space has been used for since the building opened.

Thursday 8th May
---------------------------
A merry bunch of Reclaimers went down to Gilbert HQ to receive the President's response to the Declarations elegantly delivered to him 7 days earlier. He wasn't there, and no, we weren't allowed to make an appointment.

Colin Stirling, the new Vice-President of teaching and learning did happen to be passing by. To his credit, he discussed in some detail with the Group the Arthur Lewis Declarations, agreeing with some points and disagreeing with others.

Thursday 1st May
---------------------------
Around 25 Reclaimers invited themselves to a university finance meeting to deliver the Arthur Lewis Declarations to all the entire board of governers.

For a slightly inaccurate report see http://www.student-direct.co.uk/news/protesters-disrupt-presidents-meeting

                                                                   Washington, Moratorium Day

In 1969, anti-Vietnam war organizations set out to organize a moratorium i.e. a nationwide strike, to protest the bombing of Cambodia and to demand an immediate end to the war.  Richard M. Nixon and his cohort set about to destroy the credibility of the organizers and sabotage the moratorium.  Despite their "best" efforts, the moratorium succeeded, perhaps beyond anyone's wildest dreams:

Vietnam Moratorium Day lived up to its advanced billing as the most widespread demonstration for peace in America's history as hundreds of thousands joined in demonstrations, rallies, teach-ins, and every conceivable form of political protest throughout the nation today.

Senators McCarthy, Kennedy, Church, McGovern, and other leading doves stumped the country pleading for an end to the war. It was not a day of confrontation. It was a day of preaching to the converted, and the demonstrations, which had the support of 80 Senators and Congressmen, were mostly all peaceful in spite of underlying passions.   Guardian/UK

Wow.  Imagine that.  Senators, Congressmen ... well, it took them years to come round but, eventually they did.  And the American people, the great silent majority, took to the streets.

In Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America, Rick Perlstein documents Nixons savage attack on the anti-war movement.  It's excerpted at AlterNet and here's an excerpt from the excerpt:

Two million Americans protested -- most for the first time in their lives. 

Everywhere, black armbands; everywhere, flags at half staff; church services, film showings, teach-ins, neighbor-to-neighbor canvasses. In North Newton, Kansas, a bell tolled every four seconds, each clang memorializing a fallen soldier; in Columbia, Maryland, an electronic sign counted the day's war deaths. Milwaukee staged a downtown noontime funeral procession. Hastings College, an 850-student Presbyterian school in Nebraska, suspended operations. Madison, Ann Arbor, and New Haven were only a few of the college towns to draw out a quarter of their populations or more (New Haven's Vietnam Moratorium Committee had called up every name in the city phone book). The nation's biggest college town brought out 100,000 souls in Boston Common. A young Rhodes Scholar out of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, got up a demonstration of 1000 people in front of the U.S. embassy in London. Newsday publisher and former LBJ right-hand-man Bill Moyers, Paris peace talks chief negotiator Averell Harriman, the mayor of Detroit, even the Connecticut state chairman of Citizens for Nixon-Agnew participated in protests. The Washington Post drew a man-bites-dog conclusion: "Anti-Vietnam Views Unite Generations."

George McGovern spoke in Boston and Bangor, Maine -- backyard of the new front-runner for the '72 Democratic nomination Edmund Muskie -- where the Great Plains back-bencher was announced as "the next President of the United States." 

Conservative Houston was one of the cities where the names of the war dead were read out in public squares. (A reader stumbled and stopped; he had come upon the name of a friend.) The Duke student newspaper editorialized: "We believe a careful study of history shows that the war in Vietnam is an imperialist conflict. And we support the struggle of the Vietnamese people for their liberation." At the University of North Carolina, the Village Voice's Jack Newfield won an ovation from 2500 children of the Dixie elite for arguing that the United States had already lost "because we fought on the wrong side." 

There wasn't a single Viet Cong flag in evidence. There were hardly any signs at all. There were candles, shimmering in an unbroken line all the way back to the Washington Monument. (Charleston, West Virginia's police chief described his city's pro-war counter-demonstration: "We won't creep around in the dark with candles like those traitors do.... We'll march at high noon on Monday and let free people fall right in line.") An NSC staffer took a break from working on the President's November 3 speech on Vietnam to witness the flickering encirclement of the White House. He looked up with a start: it included his wife and children. The President affected to have noticed nothing: "I haven't seen a single demonstrator -- and I've been out."

Nixon couldn't stop it so he chose to ignore it.  In the end, not a useful strategy.  The press back then often backed up the Prez, even at his most ourageous.  The New York Daily News of the day:

the moratorium has been "snapped up, amplified, and financed by kooks, reds, dupes, and, a few idealists. "  

Indigenous Peoples representatives and organizations held a protest at the May 2 2008 conclusion of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York. They were angered by the final report of the Permanent Forum, which ignored Indigenous Peoples stated concerns about carbon trading projects (REDD), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and other so called" good practise" initiatives.

More info:

RED Climate Change and Forests.pdf:
http://www.divshare.com/download/4285737-1a7

RED Commodifying Forests.pdf: http://www.divshare.com/download/4286100-733

Lessons learned from the CDM.pdf:
http://www.divshare.com/download/4286573-8ea

World Bank and the FCPF.pdf: http://www.divshare.com/download/4286867-1cc

Kampar Peninsula.pdf: http://www.divshare.com/download/4286964-2ae

No Carbon Market for Forests.pdf:
http://www.divshare.com/download/4287207-4a4

a poorly formatted/pasted text follows...

Communiqué from the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) on the matter of
the World Bank, REDDs’ issue resulting in the action on the last day of the
Permanent Forum.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Attached below are paragraphs 5 and 37, which 32 Indigenous organizations
and NGO's participating in last weeks' 7th Session of the Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues were opposed to. Despite a lot of lobbying of Permanent
Forum members, the language stayed in the final report. It must be known by
our Indigenous brothers and sisters to know that there were certain people
on the Permanent Forum that were advocating for support and implementation
of carbon market initiatives concerning climate change mitigation and the
protection of forest lands.

It was noted that during the first week of the Permanent Forum, there were
numerous statements made by Indigenous Peoples opposing the REDD [Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries] initiative
www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/EGM_cs08_diaz.doc
<http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/EGM_cs08_diaz.doc> that the
World Bank is initiating through a Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF)
project. When the Permanent Forum released a draft of its recommendations on
the theme of climate on Monday, April 28, 2008, it was discovered that the
draft recommendations (paragraph 37) strongly supported the World Bank
initiative and completely ignored the voices of Indigenous Peoples that
opposed the REDD initiative, as well as other carbon market solutions.
Indigenous participants felt completely ignored and marginalized. One
Indigenous brother from the Amazon basin region said, "I don't even know why
I came to this Permanent Forum, it seems they already had their mind made up
on what they wanted to say."

It was surprising to see language in the Permanent Forum recommendations
citing the consultations held by the World Bank to be recognized. Indigenous
Peoples from South America had noted the World Bank consultation in South
America resulted in Indigenous Peoples walking out. Walking out on this
so-called consultation does not interpret into support for the FCPF - REDD
project.

Within paragraph 5, it was appalling to many Indigenous Peoples that the
Permanent Forum recommended the Kyoto Protocols' Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM) and the World Bank's Clean Energy Investment Framework as "good
examples" of partnerships. Please look at the Petition, for these two
initiatives are not good examples of partnerships and many CDM projects have
reports of human rights violations.

After the draft report of recommendations on the theme of climate was
released, concerned Indigenous peoples, especially the forested-peoples of
the global south, converged. After lobbying for language in paragraph 5 and
37 to be omitted, it seemed like swimming upstream. Many Permanent Forum
members were not fully knowledgeable on the REDDs initiative, nor fully
aware of carbon offset and carbon market regimes. A strategy to present a
unified presence was decided upon. A petition was prepared by IEN and signed
by 32 Indigenous organizations and submitted to the 16 independent experts
of the Permanent Forum. (8 of the members are nominated by governments and 8
are nominated directly by indigenous organizations in their regions. Members
of the Permanent Forum are listed at this web site:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/members.html

The language of the draft recommendation that was released by the Permanent
Forum members on Monday, April 28, 2008, is provided below.

(UN document number: United Nations E/C.19/2008/L.2, Agenda item 3 of the
provisional agenda)

/5. The Permanent Forum notes that the clean development mechanism, the
Clean Energy Investment Framework, the N* <#_ftn1>airobi Framework, the
Nairobi Work Programme and the Global Environment Facility adaptation funds
are good examples of the kind of partnership that will become increasingly
important. These mechanisms respond to the needs of indigenous peoples and
include them as partners in designing and implementing programmes that are
responsive to local problems and to the goals and visions of indigenous
women and men./

/37. The Permanent Forum recommends that the recommendations and proposals
that emerged from the consultations of indigenous peoples and the World Bank
on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and other carbon funds, such as
the BioCarbon Fund, be implemented by the Bank and other relevant agencies.
Indigenous peoples should be effectively involved in the design,
implementation and evaluation of the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.
Displacement and exclusion of indigenous peoples from their forests which
may be triggered by projects funded by the Partnership Facility, should be
avoided at all costs. Indigenous peoples or their representatives should
have a voice in and a vote on the decision making body of the Partnership
Facility and of other climate change funds that will have impacts on them.
In the case of those who opt not to participate in reducing emissions from
deforestation and degradation or in the projects supported by the
Partnership Facility, their choice should be respected./

In response to these 2 paragraphs above, Indigenous organizations and
supporting organizations registered at the Permanent Forum presented the
following Petition to the Permanent Forum members.

Seventh Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

20 April 2008 – 2 May 2009

Petition to the Members of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Concerning Paragraph 5 and 37 of the draft Climate report

Members of the Permanent Forum,

We would like to express our profound concern about the inclusion of our
forests in the carbon market through the mechanism known as “Reducing
Emissions from Deforestation and Destruction” (REDD). During this 7th
Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, many interventions were
made by Indigenous participants expressing opposition to the World Banks'
Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and its efforts to develop a framework
for implementing the REDD initiative.

We strongly urge the deletion of Paragraph 37 of the “Recommendations on the
special theme "Climate change, biocultural diversity and livelihoods: the
stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges"
[E/C.19/2008/L.2]. The World Bank on the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
(FCPF) and other carbon funds, such as the BioCarbon Fund are facing broad
resistance by indigenous peoples in developing countries and becoming very
contentious and the cause of conflicts and divisions in our communities. At
one of the World Bank consultations on the FCPF, there was even a walkout by
indigenous peoples. The Permanent Forum must _not_ put itself in the
position at this time of becoming an advocate for the World Banks’ FCPF and
its efforts to promote the REDD initiative.

Many adaptation and mitigation policies and projects promoted as solutions
to climate change such as emissions trading, agrofuels and the Clean
Development Mechanism devastate Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories
and cause human rights violations. The consensus statement of the Global
Indigenous Caucus presented on the 2^nd day of this session reflected this
view as well.

The vast majority of indigenous peoples feel that the REDD will not benefit
Indigenous Peoples, but in fact will result in more violations of Indigenous
Peoples’ rights. It will increase the violation of our rights to our lands,
territories and resources; cause forced evictions; prevent access and
threaten indigenous agriculture practices; destroy biodiversity, cultural
diversity, traditional livelihoods and knowledge systems; and cause social
conflicts. Under REDD, States and carbon traders will take more control over
our forests.

We would like further to inform the Permanent Forum that steps are already
being taken in many countries, including India, to put in place legislation
and programmes that would enable dispossession of indigenous lands in favour
of corporate and international NGO control as conservation parks and
sanctuaries in anticipation of implementing REDD projects. These legal and
policy initiatives demonstrate clearly that REDD would result in
displacement of indigenous peoples and forest dwelling communities on a
massive scale.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was
adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on September 13 of
this year and consecrates fundamental rights of indigenous peoples which are
relevant to the REDD discussions, especially Articles* *10, 26, 27, 28, 29,
30, 32.

Given the threat to Indigenous Peoples’ Rights that REDD represents, we call
on the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to recommend
strongly to the UNFCCC, the UN Forum of Forests, concerned UN agencies such
as UNEP, the World Bank, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples and nation states that REDD not
be considered as a strategy to combat Climate Change but, in fact, is in
violation of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples. Moreover, we also
urge the Permanent Forum to recommend strongly to the Convention on
Biological Diversity that the implementation of the programme of work on
Forests and biodiversity prohibit REDD.

We also further urge that Paragraph 5 be amended to remove “clean
development mechanism, the Clean Energy Investment Framework, and the Global
Environment Facility". These initiatives do not demonstrate good examples of
partnership with indigenous peoples. There are many CDM projects that have
human rights violations, lack of transparency and have failed to recognize
the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent. The Clean Energy
Investment Framework is a World Bank initiative developed in response to a
mandate from the G-8 summit in Gleneagles in 2005. It is suppose to increase
access to energy in developing countries, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
the energy sector, and assist developing countries to adapt to climate
change. Friends of the Earth reported that instead of combating climate
change, the World Bank Investment Framework promotes coal-fired power,
nuclear power and large hydropower projects. The report, published by
international environment and development organizations, concluded that the
World Bank’s new Investment Framework on Clean Energy and Development will
not be effective at combating climate change and expanding energy access for
the poor. Indigenous peoples must be extremely cautious on who we partner with.

Organizations that Endorse this Statement :

Name of Organizations

1. Indigenous Environmental Network

2. CORE Manipur

3. Federation of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia (FITPA)

4. Na Koa Ikuiku Kalahui Hawaii
5. Indigenous World Association
6. CAPAJ- Parlamento del Pueblo Qollana
7. International Indian Treaty Council
8. Amazon Alliance
9. COICA
10. Instituto Indigena Brasileno para la Poropiedad Intelctual
11. The Haudenosaunee Delegation
12. Agence Kanak de Developpement
13. Mary Simat-MAWEED
14. Marcos Terena-Comite Intertribal-ITC-Brasil
15. Land is Life
16. ARPI-SC-Peru Amazonia
17. Asociaciones de Mujeres Waorani de la Amazonia AMWAE
18. Kus Kura S.C.
19. Indigenous Network on Economic and Trade
20. Aguomon FEINE
21. Friends of the Earth International
22. Amerindian Peoples Association
23. FIMI North America
24. L. Ole L. Lengai-Sinyati Youth Alliance
25. Beverly Longid-Cordillera Peoples Alliance Philippines
26. Red de Mujeres Indigenas sobre Biodiversidad de Abgatala
27. Fundacion para la Promocion de Conocimiento Indigena
28. Asociacion Indigena Ambiental
29. INTI-Intercambio Nativa Tradicional Internacional
30. Global Forest Coalition
31. Fuerza de Mujeres Wayuu
32. Café ek

Representatives of Indigenous organizations lobbied various members of the
Permanent Forum on the importance of _not_ recommending implementation of
the World Banks’ Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and its REDD
initiative. It must be noted that a couple days later, the Asia Indigenous
Caucus drafted its own proposed language surrounding the World Bank REDD
initiative. This was in response to the Petition. While the Latin America
Indigenous peoples were largely opposed to the World Bank REDD issue,
members of the Asia Indigenous Caucus were split on the issue. The Asia
Indigenous Caucus supported paragraph 37 to stay, and lobbied for two
additional paragraphs. Their version is provided below:

**

*THE ASIA CAUCUS PROPOSALS TO THE UNPFII RECCOMENDATIONS ON CLIMATE CHANGE*

Concerning Recommendations on the special theme, “Climate Change,
biocultural diversity and livelihoods : the stewardship role of indigenous
peoples and new challenges”

*/Insert Additional Paragraphs after paragraph 36 :/*

37. The Permanent Forum recommends to use the renewed political focus on
forests stimulated by current policy debates on Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) under the UNFCCC, towards securing the
rights of indigenous peoples living in forests, and* protecting *rewarding
their historical* guardianship *stewardship role and* *continuing
conservation and sustainable use of forests. Indigenous peoples must not be
excluded, and should be centrally involved in deciding forest policies and
programmes at all levels, that deliver on justice and equity, and contribute
to sustainable development, biodiversity protection and climate mitigation
and adaptation.**

38. The Permanent Forum has heard that the current framework for Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) is unacceptable for most
indigenous peoples. Existing REDD proposals, would reward deforesters and
polluters rather than indigenous peoples; reinforce centralized top-down
management of forests,* involve carbon offset regimes that violate
indigenous cosmovision and world view* and undermine indigenous peoples
rights. In order to benefit indigenous peoples, new proposals for avoided
deforestation or reduced emissions from deforestation must* include *address
the need for global and national policy reforms and be guided by *implement
*the UN Declaration on the* *Rights of Indigenous Peoples, respecting rights
to land, territories and resources; and the rights of self determination and
to the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the indigenous peoples concerned.* *

Despite all the efforts to try to lobby Permanent Forum members on the
issue, and numerous closed door meetings by the Permanent Forum members
discussing the issue, on the last day of the Permanent Forum, the final
recommendations were released. The final recommendations maintained
paragraph 37, and added the two additional paragraphs proposed by the Asia
Indigenous Caucus. Paragraph 5 stayed in the final report, as well.

This is when the Indigenous organizations demanded a voice on this issue.
The final day didn’t allow for interventions (statements) from Indigenous
groups (observers). ]]> http://podblack.wordpress.com/?p=580 Tue, 13 May 2008 05:52:56 +0000 podblack http://podblack.wordpress.com/?p=580

So, apparently I have a mission.

Find these women, compatriots in my town:

Hugely effective mini-raid carried out by all-female Anonymous members in Perth, Western Australia, 2nd May 2008. About one minute in, watch as they get "handled" by a Scientologist, and a very Aussie member of the public gives the Scio a smackdown!!

And hug them, on behalf of "E" in the Northern Hemisphere. Ladies, wherever you are, my hat is tipped to you.

 The meat of the petition, with personal commentary inserted [in parentheses and italics]:

"In the last months, a group of masked protesters have come to downtown Clearwater to demonstrate. They have told the media and the City that they are peacefully protesting. This is far from the truth and their actions are detrimental to the conduct of business in downtown. There have been three protests, and in each they walked through the downtown area yelling and screaming.

Their actions have prevented customers from coming in our stores [Prevented? What, are they standing in front of merchants' doors taunting or blocking customers?]. Saturday is a very busy day for us commerce-wise and having literally no sales for those three days hurts our economy and not just our personal economies. We have employees that need to be paid. We charge sales tax. These people are making it difficult for us to attract customers downtown [Oh, well a thousand apologies, dignified merchants. From now on protesters will try to organize their efforts against abusive deceitful terrorist cults in a manner that is more convenient to your bottom line].

The City of Clearwater is putting a lot of effort into revitalizing downtown and we hate to see it wasted due to a group of kids who should be using their time to build the community, not trying to tear it down [This is a classic instance of Clearwater Scientology political rhetoric. I stomached this deluded line of argumentation multiple times while watching Mark "Wise Beard Man" Bunker's videos of Clearwater City Commission Meetings, as a means of making socially conscious citizen cult whistle-blowers look like they're the bad guys while Scientology is just the poor little kid brother who wants to help]. We do not like having them here and they, with their masks, odd costumes, chanting and yelling, are not welcome.

I do not know if the City has a law to prevent people such as this from stopping commerce as they have been doing. They do have the right to peacefully protest, but they are in no way peaceful [They're not? What charges have been laid? On what rational grounds should a mayor override the freedom of assembly and speech of protesters of a dangerous cult who only maintain anonymity out of reasonable fear of being Fair Game'd? On what grounds do we say that what this group is doing is so destructive as to warrant overriding some of their most fundamental rights - rights foundational to America?]. They are intimidating our customers (both non-Scientologists and Scientologists alike) and we do not appreciate it [Really? How so? Anonymous protesters have made significant efforts to publicize the reasons for their masks and their protests. And yes, I can understand that 100 masked individuals can be perturbing. But the reason for the masks is downright terrifying. If you want to get rid of the masks why not work on applying the law to the "Church" of Scienterrorism]."

So Who Signed The Petition?

There are a total of 37 signatures.

Are they all Owners? NO! In fact, reading through the petition, only about 11 signatures are clearly those of owners. A few signatures came from managers, so lets be nice and count them, too. That brings the total to 14. There are a number of signatures that do not specify the role of the signatory. Some of these may be managers or owners. However, there are also signatures from one person who simply listed them self as "Clearwater resident", three signatures from employees of a single establishment, and a number of other signatures from people who have last names different from the last name given in the store name. From this, it looks like we might have somewhere around 20-22 signatures from managers and owners.

Were all entries legible and complete? No. A number of entries are indecipherable chicken scratch, one person simply listed her first name (what is this, fifth grade?), and one person scribbled her first name and the initial of her surname (I guess there must have been two people with the same name in this middle school class).

Might any of the signatories just happen to be Scientologists?  The answer is Yes. Using Truth About Scientology's listings of Scientology course completions, I found that at the very least 57% of the legible signatures on this petition (over 1/3 of signatures were illegible) were of people who have taken Scientology courses - usually quite a few of them. More specifically, of the 37 signatures 23 were readable and 13 of the signatories were found to have taken Scientology courses. All other signatories' Scientology status is unknown. Important: I was initially going to post the names of all legible signatories here, along with links verifying those said to have taken Scientology courses. However, I have decided to remove this from the post out of fear of possible harassment from the cult. If I can be given reason to be confident that I will not be hassled, I may post them - I have saved the linked list on my hard drive.

UPDATE: Thanks to David Mudkips for notifying me of the hard investigative work that Anons on Enturbulation.Org put into figuring out any potential ties of signatories to Scientology. This group of Anons has thus far found that at least 73% of legible signatures are of Scientologists. Moreover, in some cases the businesses sold Scientology-related products and/or were listed in Scientology's World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) directory.

So how do these numbers compare to census data? While Scientologists made up at least 73 percent of the petition signatories, Scientologists only make up around 11% of Clearwater citizens - and this was before the protests. What an interesting coincidence that the population subset that wishes to thwart protests against Scientology just happens to have a proportion of Scientologists that is more than 6.5 times that of the City!

Note: It is definitely conceivable that just because the people above are known to have taken Scientology does not necessarily mean that they are Scientologists. However, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that if they've taken courses and are signing this document which makes claims that seemingly only a person committed to Scientology would make, they're probably a Scientologist. And if that's not good enough reason for you, I can just say that I'm following Scientology's lead of calling anyone who has ever taken a single Scientology course at any point a Scientologist.

Conclusion:

Lets call a spade a spade. This petition is hardly about economics. The petition is clearly motivated primarily by Scientology. The proportion of signatories who are Scientologists exceeds the proportion of Scientologists in all of Clearwater by more than 650%. The fallacious accusations and political rhetoric are the sorts used consistently and exclusively by Scientologists.

Next Course of Action:

To e-mail my findings to Mayor Frank Hibbard. On it!

For more on Scientology, click here.

No California student is safe!