The military regime has now begun to crack down on the largely peaceful monks who've been demonstrating foe several days now in Yangon. Two hundred monks were arrested in nighttime raids in Ngwe Kyaryan. Other sources have the number at 600. The government has also turned violent in the past couple of days using tear gas and firing at protesters in an attempt to clear the streets. This has resulted in 9 dead and 11 injured including a Japanese journalist.The international community has voiced its support for the activists. The United States has come out with a call for sanctions against the impoverished nation. Many within the United Nations agree including France with French President Sarkozy stating "France will not accept the gagging of Burma's opposition". An emergency session was held Wednesday with the UN calling for the government to show restraint. Earlier today, China also condemned the government of Myanmar. However, China and Russia have said that sanctions would not help. Furthermore, China has also said that it is an internal matter.
Protests against Myanmar's embassies has also occured. In Bangkok and Seoul, protesters have thrown rocks at the buildings and chanted. It is no coincidence that the junta has now cracked down on the monks and other citizens have joined into the protest. With the UN calling restraint, it merely begs to be defied.
It is also notable that opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been silent. She can do nothing but be silent. She continues to be held in house arrest. During the march to Yangon, the monks were able to pass by her home that has been her prison for 12 years. The government won't let a repeat of her appearing at her gates. Security has been heightened around her home to discourage any demonstrators from contacting her. On this day in 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi was part of a rather violent protest that cost thousands of lives.
Back on this day in 1540, Pope Paul III founded the Society of Jesus. This highly organized religious order would be known as the Jesuits.
In 1821, Mexico gained its independence from Spain.
In 1886, Prophet John Taylor received a revelation that polygamy was no longer a viable practice within the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints. To this day, the church is still devided on this divisive issue.
Back 102 years ago in 1905, the Annalen der Physik journal published an article called "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" by Albert Einstein. In this paper, Einstein postulated a famous equation E=mc2. After this, Physics which was moderately assumed to be thoroughly complete in its study, was turned on its ear with the discovery of quantum physics. The world would be forever changed.
In 1985, Long Island, New York, was hit by Hurricane Gloria.
In 1998, Google is founded.
In Myanmar, there are now protests against the military regime that has been in place since 1962. Recently there had been smaller protests since August 15th but now Buddhist monks are leading the charge. The instigation of this new wave of protests is the rise in fuel prices dictated by the junta. Prices are supposed to rise 500%. The numbers of protesters is estimated to be somewhere between 30,000 and 100,000 and growing, according to eyewitnesses. The Buddhist monks and also nuns have marched to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) to demand change. Riot Police have been deployed to control the protests. The monks have been chanting for Democracy.Ordinary people are beginning to get involved in the biggest anti-junta protests in nearly 20 years. The remnants of two political parties: the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Burmese Communist Party which is largely defunct.
Today, is also the first day of the United Nations General Assembly with Ban Ki-moon presiding. President Bush spent a good deal of time addressing the recent spate of protests in Myanmar. Sanctions have been imposed on the country by the US. The President mentioned Iraq or Iran as little as possible. Myanmar provided an excellent new topic that no one can disagree with him on. Who is not in favor of new democracy in place of rule by fear? I will concede that Laura Bush, his wife, is deeply involved in the struggle for freedom in Myanmar.
Also in Eastern Asia, there has been recent upheaval in government of Japan. The Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned on September 12th taking his cabinet with him amid unpopularity. He was elected only last year and was the youngest, not to mention, the first to have been born after World War II. On August 27th, he scrapped his cabinet after the suicide of the Minister of Agriculture on May 28th by hanging himself. There had been an open investigation into impropriety involving his office expenses.
After getting a new cabinet, things still did not go well. In fact, problems continued with the same office. Norihiko Akagi was the replacement for the Minister of Agriculture and he resigned August 1st after disastrous elections on August 1st and allegations of funding discrepancies. The Liberal Democratic Party took particularly large losses. Three days after the new house was sworn in, Shinzo Abe and his entire cabinet resigned. For months the Prime Minister's popularity had not risen above 30%.
Yasuo Fukuda was chosen by the National Diet today. Word is, he will announce the new cabinet tomorrow, September 26th.
Back on this day in 1066 the battle of Stamford Bridge occurred. The invading Norwegian army of King Harald Hardrada beat Edwin of Mercia and Morcar of Northumbria. The Norwegian victory was shortlived... This is considered the end of the Viking age in England.
In 1513, Spanish Explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa found himself in the Pacific Ocean. Ferdinand Magellen, the Portuguese explorer, named it the Pacific Ocean.
In 1789, the US Congress passed twelve amendments: The Congressional Apportionment Amendment, Congressional Compensation Amendment and the Bill of Rights. The Congressional Compensation Amendment was not ratified until the 1990's as the 27th. The first Amendment still has not been ratified. Only 11 states ratified it Georgia, Connecticut & Massachusetts not doing anything. Under modern ratification rules, 27 more states need to ratify the amendment. The Bill of Rights went into affect on December 15th, 1791. Again, Georgia, Connecticut & Massachusetts did not ratify. They did however, do so in 1939.
In 1962, Algeria becomes free & independent.
And in 1976, soon to be pretentious rock band U2 was founded in drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.'s kitchen in Dublin, Ireland.
erin go bragh
If you're wondering what the hell that is all about, wonder no more.The characters above mean Pingxingguan. This was the location of a battle fought between the Japanese and the Chinese.
So, why am I bringing this up? And what the hell do I think I'm doing? Well, Ill tell you...
It occurred to me that I liked doing my history comments. Its not enough to remind people of our past. I want to do it in a chronological way. I want to cover the Second World War (as it more commonly called in other countries). If I really wanted to get going on this I would have started back in 2001. This is the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (Sino is an English Prefix meaning of China...). The first Sino-Japanese War was fought in 1894 to 1895. This war was fought in 8 ½ months over Korea by the Meiji Dynasty in Japan and Qing Dynasty of China. The first war saw a grissly battle known now as the Port Arthur Massacre (to be addressed at a later date).
With the Second War, though it began in 1931, many historians place the beginning of open and aggressive warfare at July 7th of 1937. By this point, Japan had invaded Manchuria (滿洲) on September 19, 1931 and renamed it Manchkuo (満州国). It also had placed the deposed Emperor Puyi (溥儀) as the ruler of the puppet state there.
On that day in July, there had been the the Lugou Bridge Incident (盧溝橋事變) or also known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. The battle involved a white marble bridge of 11 arches located in Fengtai (豐台), a southern suburb of Bejing (then called Beiping). The Japanese parked themselves at the west end of the bridge and practiced whilst the Koumintang (KMT) forces watched.
At dawn of that day, Japan claimed a soldier was missing inside the city and they wanted to search for him. Colonel Ji said "no". General Song, his superior officer, was behind him on this. They felt it may well be a pretext to invasion of Beijing. In fact, that is what it later led to. Matsui sent an ultimatum: Let us in or we will fire within the hour.
On July 8th, at midnight, the Japanese began to bombard the city. The Chinese reinforced the bridge and with some territorial flux managed to hold the Japanese at the west end. The Japanese later made three demand of the Chinese to a General Zhang Zizhong (張自忠). These were the three demands:
1) The Kuomintang must wipe out all anti-Japanese organizations and halt all anti-Japanese activities inside the cities.
2) The Kuomintang must take all responsibilities of the incident on 7 July.
3) Song, not any other inferior officer of the 29th Army, must apologize.
Zhang it appears was favored by the Japanese. He and Song didn't get along and found himself abandoned in a defenseless Beiping. I don't want to get really into this now but this incident and the subsequant fall of Beiping-Tianjin are one filled with politics and backstabbing. The tactics employed and the choices made are still debated to this day. Beiping fell on July 29, 1937 leaving the North China Plain vulnerable to the Japanese.
While the battle for Pingxingguan took place in late September, there had been a long drawn out battle going on in Shanghai. We'll get to that when it wraps up in November. At Pingxingguan, there were a couple of supply covoys headed for Japanese encampments. They were ambushed by the Chinese. Though there were about 500-600 dead on both sides, it was a victory for China. They also acquired 100 or so trucks and weapons.
Next up, we look at something else notable that led up to World War II: The Spanish Civil War. In addition, I'll try to catch us up on the other events that happened throughout the 30's and the march toward the Second World War. Other historical notes will continue.
On a personal note, this is something I've been considering doing for the past 6-7 months. Ken Burns' documentary and the recent D-Day rebroadcasts have made me more so inclined to do it. I like examining wars because they never really change. The issues we deal with today are the same as they were then.
Take Care.
Heh. Interesting day today. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (محمود احمدینژاد) visited Columbia University in New York. He was invited to the campus to speak before going to the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow. Its likely that the speech he gave today will be what he'll give tomorrow.He questioned why the Palestinians should pay for the crimes of Germany. He also said that he thought the way the US managed the world is wrong.
Before he got the chance to speak, the president of the University, Lee Bollinger, had plenty to say, much of it insulting, about the leader after defending the school's decision to host Ahmadinejad on Good Morning America today. He said "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator". He also told the president that there is no reason to research the holocaust: "The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history".
Despite he past claims that Israel should be wiped off the map, he would not go so far as say that here. The likelihood he would not escape New York City with his life or something like it may have been a motivation for the omission. He did comment that the Palestinians deserve self-determination and free elections. To read more on this, there's a large article on CNN.
See that? POTUS?! What a weird name, right? Well it's a new channel on subscription satellite radio service XM radio. This channel is on number 130 and will likely have a 14 month or so life. This will take it through the election of the President of the United States next November. That's right, POTUS stands for the President and his (her) title. After previews and such it has finally gone on the air. Yay!!! If you're a subscriber, tune in!Recently, maybe today, there was a story about protest songs. Back in the day, there were heaps of songs protesting the Vietnam conflict. One such song was "Save the Country" by the 5th Dimension. Apparently, there is a line in the song that refers to the Kennedy's:
"Come on, people
Sons and mothers
Keep the dream of
The two young brothers
Take that dream
And ride that dove
We could build the dream
With love, I know"
It made me pause. I forget, and I think many people do, how much of an affect the Kennedy's had on the country. I dunno...
Marcel Marceau, the famous French mime, died at the age of 84, on September 22nd. He left no last words.
Back on this day in 622, Muhammad completed his pilgrimage or Hegira. This would be the first on many for Muslims. It continues today and is a major tenet for Muslims the world over.
In 1664, the Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam to England. It is now known as New York.
In 1890, The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints denounced polygamy with purpose being Utah becoming a state. It never goes truly out of practice and the debate around the practice continues to this day.
On this day in 1906, US President Theodore Roosevelt made Devil's Tower the first national monument.
In 1957, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders the 101st Airborne to go into Little Rock to enforce desegregation at the high school there.
And in 1991, Nirvana released their album Nevermind. Rock music would be never be the same.
Sons and mothers
Keep the dream of
The two young brothers
Take that dream
And ride that dove
We could build the dream
With love, I know"
It made me pause. I forget, and I think many people do, how much of an affect the Kennedy's had on the country. I dunno...
Marcel Marceau, the famous French mime, died at the age of 84, on September 22nd. He left no last words.
Back on this day in 622, Muhammad completed his pilgrimage or Hegira. This would be the first on many for Muslims. It continues today and is a major tenet for Muslims the world over.
In 1664, the Netherlands surrenders New Amsterdam to England. It is now known as New York.
In 1890, The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints denounced polygamy with purpose being Utah becoming a state. It never goes truly out of practice and the debate around the practice continues to this day.
On this day in 1906, US President Theodore Roosevelt made Devil's Tower the first national monument.
In 1957, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower orders the 101st Airborne to go into Little Rock to enforce desegregation at the high school there.
And in 1991, Nirvana released their album Nevermind. Rock music would be never be the same.
عصر بخی
Asr be kheyr!
(That's "Good Evening" in Farsi)
(That's "Good Evening" in Farsi)
Among all the hubbub of returning to school this fall, I managed to break my hand. Yes, my hand. I hit someone on the side of his or her head with my hand and am now paying for it (literally).
Tonight in my first post in three weeks or so, I want to address the whole thing about Moveon.org. Apparently, no one can do just that: move on. The ad itself while rather uninspired ("Hey, Petraeus rhymes with Betray Us!!!" "That's brilliant!!!!!!") and off target. Lets set something straight. Military figures are not politicians. When they leave the service they may then feel free to pull an Ike and run for office, even the highest in the land. Until then, there are as much a part of the chain of command as the grunt who hauls a 60 lb pack and a rifle. He's taking orders from the Commander-in-thief... I mean chief.
Moveon.org is attacking the wrong guy. He's stuck having to fight a war that even he may not agree with. SEevice people are citizens, too. They do not think the same and no one should ever categorically assume that all service men and women are therefore gun toting, conservative yahoos. Anyone who's served a day in the armed forces will tell you that there are as many varying beliefs, opinions and ideologies as there are in the civilan world. Never take for granted that a soldier is there completely by choice. Signing up means you follow orders regardless of your ideas but unable to express them To attack someone who cannot freely express their own heart and mind do to the role they have is sheer rudeness and dispicable.
I've said my peace on that (mistake intended) and lets put this puppy to bed!
Next week, the United Nations will once again begin its General Assembly for reasons unknown to anyone with brain cells to rub together. If you must ask why, read the UN charter. I even linked it for you because I'm such a nice caring person... Ban Ki-Moon and all the rest will show up for hopefully, another circus. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current President of Iran will be in New York again despite last year's outright weirdness (Do I need to remind people of Chavez and his "devil" talk?). Ahmadinejad, beyond being short and an excellent modern Napoleon wannabe, asked to be able to visit Groud Zero in New York to pay his repects. New York officials denied his request citing safety concerns since the site is now a construction zone. Way to go New York!
Beacause I want to keep this post short I will refrain from talking about Bush's supposed B in Econ 101 (word on the street says it was a C-). I will, however, discuss a recent lawsuit brought about by a Nebraska State Senator named Ernie Chambers on September 14th. This senator was incenced to dicover a lawsuit being brought by an accuser in a sexual assault case. During the case, the words "victim" and "rape" were barred from the proceedings. The victim, as it were, has now sued saying her right to free speech was infringed upon.
Mr. Chambers took it upon himself to file a lawsuit against God. Thats right! The One, the Almighty, the great I Am. According to Chamber, he can sue God in Douglas County, his home county where Omaha is, because God is everywhere. Chambers also waived personal service i.e. notifying Him of said suit, because God is omniscient. He already knows.
Specifically in the suit, God is accused "of making and continuing to make terroristic threats of grave harm to innumerable persons, including constituents of Plaintiff who Plaintiff has the duty to represent." In addition, God has caused (though I'd prefer the words allowed or enabled over caused) "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects, and the like." (Nice use of allitereration! Woeful Wars might have been cooler).
And it doesn't end there. God further takes it on the chin with this scathing diatribe against God (probably Morgan Freeman) of "calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction." Never accuse God of being too random.
Well, God spoke back (or is it spake?) At any rate, God says that Chambers cannot sue anybody as his frivolous lawsuit is supposed to prove. He also added in the response that Chambers missed a very important point particularly concerning blaming him for human oppression and suffering. According to God "I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you." Apparently there was another response that listed a phone number for a law firm in of all places, Corpus Cristi.
I have nothing witty to add to this. Its funny enough on its own but in an intellectual way. I would like to, however, say a few things about the case that brought this about. The woman who brought about the suit has a case. Here's why: the case of her "assaulter" ended in mistrial because the surrounding publicity damaged the prosecution's chances of getting an impartial jury. Since she also couldn't speak freely in the court to lay her claim of assault against another, she and the prosecution were effectively gagged. This amounts to a judge who would rather control how a case is tried rather than interpret the law and ensure that justice is served.
I also want to add that calling someone a victim in a trial does not absolutely mean that the defendent victimized the accuser. He may be proven otherwise. However, there is still eveidence that the victim was victimized. That cannot be disputed.
As much as I could rant till I'm actually in Nebraska, I must move on... hee hee....
On Sunday, a new Ken Burns' documentary is premiering on PBS. It is called simply The War and it details events as seen through orinary people who fought or assisted in World War II. As most of those close to me know, I am obsessed with World War II. I invite all who have the chance to view this. War stories are rarely told and even more rarely heard. In fact, less so since 1,000 World War II vets die everyday. But worse than this, a majority of high school graduating seniors believe the US fought with Germany against the USSR. Now thats just BAD!!!!!!
Now onward toward history (can those two words be used together like that?)
On this Day, in 1780, Benedict Arnold became Benedict Arnold by giving the British the plans to West Point. Who was he before you ask? He was benedict arnold.
In 1765, Antoine de Beauterne claimed to have killed the mysterious wolf-like creature called the Beast of Gévaudan (French: La bête du Gévaudan). The beast continued its horrific attacks all the same.
On this day, in 1897, The New York Sun published the letter stating "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus". The editorial is now the most republished editorial in the English Language.
J.R.R. Tolkein published The Hobbit in 1937. Geeks and free thinkers would forever feel its fantastical pull. But really, bedtime stories would never be the same.
And in 1991, after decades of oppression and before that, genocide, Armenia is independent of the USSR which ceased to exist shortly thereafter.
Tomorrow I begin the fall semester at the illustrious University of Minnesota. The campus is about a mile away from the recent bridge collapse so things should be rather interesting... Otherwise, I have 5 courses at 16 credit hours. I'm taking 3 political science courses, a history one and a global studies course that focuses on globalisation and non-state actors. I'm actually excited about all of them, surprisingly. I think my layabout lazy summer was just what I needed to get my head back in the game. That and a new laptop!
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