As noted before in this online publication, the news of Chinese troops crushing the resurgent independence movement in Tibet was predictable, to say the least. The consequences for those involved in the protest against Chinese cultural genocide in Tibet will likely live on long after most of the soldiers have gone back to their barracks. Even on Canada’s west coast, far from this crisis, grassroots groups like the Canada Tibet Committee and individuals in Vancouver are taking action.
Fifteen monks are detained and at risk of torture and ill treatment. Write to the Chinese Ambassador to Canada to urge him to do everything he can to convince the Chinese authorities to respect human rights in Tibet. Consider donating to Amnesty International to help them bring attention to the prisoners and hopefully get them away from harm’s way.
What is it about Vancouver that attracts so many new media organizations that want to change the world? The latest I’ve discovered is SAWA Global, which aims to profile short videos of local heroes from the world’s poorest countries that provide solutions on poverty eradication, disease control and environmental sustainability.
SAWA’s objectives are two-fold: the first is to provide a free website portal for the world’s poorest people to promote their projects “stories of hope” and leverage global support. They also want to present a website interface to educate and connect citizens of all nations to actionable ideas for global change.
Given that BC imports 15 per cent of its electricity (mostly from dirty coal-fired plants, since new hydro dams are hard to get built these days) we really ought to be making energy-saving a permanent habit.
The latest buzz about our alleged home-grown Canadian terror cell’s plot to destroy democracy in Canada is even scarier than what we all knew before (Missauga: The News). Remember, these are the same guys who reportedly wanted to behead Stephen Harper — for real, not just metaphorically. Actually saw off the man’s head. Really, really, bad stuff.
So… since MAWO still seems to endorse this convoluted theory, even though the Crown’s evidence is only now being released in drips and drabs, the question is: what does MAWO know that the rest of us don’t?
Vancouver’s social media mavens will be getting a little “green” with their Net Tuesday menu of Web 2.0 goodness this week at WorkSpace.
I’ve researched just about every aspect of sustainability and eco-friendly trends in Vancouver over the past year as a columnist and feature writer for the green-friendly Granville Magazine. Our city has emerged as a leader when it comes to sustainable design and its high numbers of environmentally-conscious citizenry. I’m curious about what the people on the cutting edge of social marketing will have to say.
Just as a heads-up, Capulet.com Head Geek Darren Barefoot will be talking about DeSmogBlog.com’s remarkable achievements. Thegreenpages.ca founder Rex Turgano will be giving an overview on the little green blog that could. Later, Happyfrog.ca founder Ron Williams will be describing the political and environmental context of their innovative user-generated eco-community.
Lots to check out. By the way, don’t forget to vote in the NetSquared Mashup Challenge (voting was extended until this Monday)! Support your favorite project that helps social benefit organizations adopt social web tools. I like the KnowMore.org Firefox Extension idea. Check out the wide range of projects looking for your vote before it’s too late!
A little shameless plug for my new website — check out the WRITEIMAGE blog for the latest trends and tips for writing, web copywriting and social media.
As an aside, for those who have been wondering what the glamorous working day of a writer looks like, the following video may illustrate. Cheers!
Remember, repetitive stress typing injuries are not just a myth perpetuated by lazy teenage essayists on a deadline. Take it easy out there, fellow wordsmiths.
Apropos of nothing, I really, really like Apple songs. Whoever actually selects them just has a good ear for what makes me happy. Here’s the new MacBook Air Song, New Soul by Yael Naim, for your listening pleasure. Cheers.
An embarrassingly talented Vancouver writer who is clearly destined for greatness will get his due in an upcoming Paul and Ben Film Festival. For more than three years, Kevin Spenst has written a short story every day. The documentary of his fifty readings in a single day around Vancouver promises to be a literary-cinematic triumph.
And check out his stories — funny, sad, poignant and just plain silly — which he cranks out every single day. You’ll be glad you did.
UPDATE: One Thousand Stories won best picture at the Paul and Ben Film Festival on Friday night. Screenings at film festivals around the world, from Beijing to Berlin, are in the works. A star is born.
Buddhist spiritual leader and Vancouver speaking-circuit favorite, the Dalai Lama, is condemning Chinese security forces for swarming into the Chinese province (and formerly, the independent nation) of Tibet. The move from Beijing was sparked by violent unrest by protesters in territory, annexed in 1951 (as depicted in one of Brad Pitt’s finer performances) (AFP).
I’ve been conflicted about the Tibet issue ever since reading Globe and Mail columnist and author Jan Wong’s Red China Blues about a decade ago after traveling to the country in question. She reached two conflicting but not necessarily contradictory conclusions:
1. Cultural genocide was indeed taking place as Chinese flooded into the area. This was despite some Chinese administration laws that provided financial and social services benefits to native Tibetans in varied ways, akin to Canadian benefits to First Nations people who live on reserves. The young generation of Tibetans that had never known their own independent country were undoubtedly assimilating into the Chinese nation.
2. China has been a modernizing influence to Tibet. The old days of the religious theocracy are long-gone (albeit replaced by a geriatric Communist dictatorship), along with superstitions and an aversion to technology. Economically, Tibetans are far, far better off than they would have been under the old system. In a land where freedom is measured differently than in the West, improvements in economic status can be akin to improvements in personal freedom — not quite democracy, but not something to be sneered at.
Wong is just one commentator. But her words, particularly coming from a perspective that initially wanted very much to condemn all aspects of the Chinese occupation (consistent with Wong’s awakening to the horrors of the Chinese dictatorship), still carry weight for me.
To be sure, Chinese interference in the ancient land of Tibet is a tragedy. Tibetans have been killed, tortured and imprisoned for struggling for their nation’s freedom. Right now, the odds of Tibetans regaining their independence through anything short of a total collapse of the Chinese central government look slim.
NATO went to war against Serbia’s war-mongering regime in 1999 because of an inordinate raise in property taxes in Kosovo. The Rwanda genocide is more properly termed the “municipal rezoning” conflict.
Not true, of course. Taxes and city bureaucracy may suck, but they had never been mentioned seriously as tactics for ethnic cleansing — until Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas weighed in this week. On the widely-read Yahoo! News site, the headline reads “Abbas accuses Israel of Ethnic Cleansing” One would naturally assume this is just more rhetoric to describe Israel’s recent incursion into Gaza to stop a relentless barrage of missiles emanating from the territory. Nope.
Reading further down, Abbas’ meaning becomes clear: “Our people in Jerusalem are under an ethnic cleansing campaign. They are suffering from a series of decisions like tax hikes and construction prohibitions.”
Interesting. Does Abbas have any comment on the decade-old Palestinian law that provides a death sentence — usually by summary execution involving torture and/or bullets to the brain — to Palestinians who sell land to Jews (Frontpagemagazine.com)? Just so everybody is absolutely clear on the rules.
By the way, since I was recently protesting for press freedom with Reporters Without Borders against some of the more outrageous examples of media censorship via bloodletting, exactly how did Hamas-run, media-unfriendly Gaza get a free pass from the list?
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