they must prefer Paris Hilton instead…

Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.
~Edward Abbey

“We are not responsible for our oppression but we must be responsible for our own liberation.”
~Malcolm X via Audre Lorde

There are those who are alive yet will never live,
There are those who are dead yet will live forever,
Great deeds inspire and encourage the living.
– Inscription on the grave of James Earl Chaney (CORE member murdered in 1964)

is a month away!

“the no-pollute commute”

Check out Oakland Public Works or the East Bay Bicycle Coalition for more information.

original press release at http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/article.php?id=983

“CHINA’S OLYMPIC TORCH OUT OF TIBET”
ACTIVISTS CALL ON OLYMPIC COMMITTEE TO REFUSE PROPOSED TORCH ROUTE

Contact:
Lhadon Tethong (917) 418-4181 (New York)
Kate Woznow (77 322-3071 (Vancouver)

April 18, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York – Students for a Free Tibet calls on the International Olympic
Committee to reject China’s plan to run the Olympic torch over Mount
Everest and through Tibet. The IOC is currently meeting in Beijing and
will make a final decision on China’s proposed torch route – including
plans to take it through Tibet and Taiwan – by April 26th.

“Allowing China to run the Olympic torch through Tibet would mean the
IOC’s mark of approval for China’s military occupation of our nation,”
said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet.
“Nothing in the mission of the Olympic Games includes providing
validation for the most abhorrent and shameful policies of the host nation.”

“The IOC has nine days to make the right decision and keep the Olympic
torch out of what the Associated Press recently called a ‘politically
charged territory’,” Tethong continued. “It has no business helping the
Chinese government strengthen its claim over Tibet. The IOC has a moral
obligation to stop the Olympic Games from becoming a means for China to
legitimize its authoritarian rule over Tibet and other occupied
territories.”

“This shouldn’t be a hard decision for the IOC members to make,” said
Kate Woznow, Director of Students for a Free Tibet in Canada. “The
international community expects the IOC to show they have a backbone and
will not allow the Chinese government to use the Olympic Games to
whitewash the terrible reality of China’s repressive rule in Tibet.”

“Olympics organizers are quoted as saying ‘the torch symbolizes peace
and friendship,’” Woznow added. “Sending the torch through Tibet would
undermine this message and shows a complete disregard for the suffering
of the Tibetan people.”

The thirty-ninth Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in Beijing in
August 2008. China has proposed bringing the Olympic torch to the summit
of Mount Everest next year on its way to Beijing. The Beijing Games
have already been the subject of major protests by the Tibetan exile
community and have been called “the Genocide Olympics” by Darfur
activists. Tibet has been occupied by China since 1949.

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) is a network of students and young
people campaigning for Tibetan independence. With 650 chapters in more
than thirty countries worldwide, SFT is working to shine the Olympic
spotlight on China’s occupation of Tibet. SFT is based in New York, with
offices in Vancouver, London, and Dharamsala, India.

http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org

# # #

As I went walking, I saw a sign there;
And on the sign there, it said “No Trespassing.”
But on the other side, it didn’t say nothing.
That side was made for you and me.

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
~Woody Guthrie

After radio talk show host Don Imus called the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” last week, many folks have been demanding that he be fired for his racist, sexist remarks.  Even Snoop Dogg had his say:

“It’s a completely different scenario, (Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports. We’re talking about hoes that’s in the ‘hood that ain’t doing s**t, that’s trying to get a n**ga for his money. These are two separate things. … I will not let them muthaf**kas say we are in the same league as him. Kick him off the air forever.”

I have started to realize, that unless I need to wake up for any particular reason, I get out of bed at about the same time - alarm or no alarm. It doesn’t matter what time I go to sleep.  Without an alarm, I wake up when the sun comes through my windows and lights up my room. If I set an alarm, I hit the snooze button until the sun tells me it’s time. So, why do I even bother with the alarm?

It’s April 1st. What pranks have you pulled?