Hiatus

Please TAKE ACTION and sign the following AVAAZ Petition HERE. It calls on the EU foreign ministers to impose sanctions on Burma. This comes as a critical time, as they will meet on Monday, Oct. 15, tomorrow! Please forward widely.
(http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_squeeze_the_junta/tf.php?cl_tf_sign=1)

***The other 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***

Hey guys,

I want to thank you all for visiting this site and doing your part to learn more, raise awareness, and call for action on the suffering and repression in Burma. More than 600 people from 30 countries have passed by this website in the past week alone!

Tomorrow, I being to make my way closer towards the border for my next post. I'll be working with activists who campaign against the extraction of conflict water resources and the environmental destruction and human rights abuses that that entails. Sorry for being so vague, but for the time being, I have to take the necessary precautions to protect myself and those for whom I work. I do not know what my internet access will be like once I touch down, but most likely, considerably less frequent than now.

In the meantime, I suggest that you look towards other news sources (linked on the left), most notably Irrawaddy and Burma News. Look around, for many of these sources get their stories days before CNN and Reuters. And for the burgeoning activists in you, please visit Burma Watch's website. The have many of the petitions listed, as well as information on other actions, ie, lobbying for EU sanctions, boycotting companies that invest in Burma, and boycotting the Olympics. The other 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE. (There's one calling on the Nobel Prize Committe to confer this year's prize to the monkhood in Burma. While Al Gore and the IPCC have already jointly won this year's prize, I don't think starting next year's lobbying early is a bad idea!)

And for the avid readers, I recommend the following books:

1. Christina Fink's Living Silence lays a very good background on the political/social/cultural/religious aspects of life under military rule. She gives a simple, yet informative briefing on historical events, and her presentation of complicated facts is very easily understood. A good first book on Burma.

2. Aung San Suu Kyi's Freedom From Fear. Start at part 3. Gives insight into the thinking of Suu Kyi as demonstrated by her letters to various international governance bodies and human rights organizations, and also includes personal reflections from people who know/knew her best.

3. Emma Larkin's Finding George Orwell in Burma

4. George Orwell's 1984, Animal Farm, and Burmese Days

Also, for those who haven't already done so, please consider joining the Support the Monks' protest in Burma and the US Campaign for Burma Facebook groups.

Let me know if you have any questions or comments, and if you need help finding reputable organizations to whom you can donate, please feel free to email me.

freeburmaactioncenter@gmail.com

Be well, and keep fighting the good fight.

for a FREE BURMA,