Kadeer's Conditions of Love Not Welcomed By Chinese Authorities

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The documentary Ten Conditions of Love about the Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, by Australian documentary-maker Jeff Daniels, has caused the Chinese authorities to withdrew four films from the Melbourne International Film Festival.

The protest of the Chinese authorities is further underlined by the hacking of the Festival's website. The site was plastered by the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans. It is reported that the cyber attack has been traced to a Chinese internet address.

China is at odds with Kadeer and blame her for inciting the unrest in the Uighur region of Xinjiang. She denies the allegation. It is unclear how it is said that she incited the riots. Kadeer was, and is, no doubt a thorn in the side of the Chinese authorities. She was jailed in China for six years and went into exile in 2005. She now lives in the US.

The Chinese have also put pressure, unsuccessfully, on the Festival head to withdraw the documentary as well as the invitation to Kadeer to attend. The festival organiser has been outraged and proclaims the festival's independence. The documentary is due to be screened on 8 August.

In 2004 Rebiya Kadeer was given the Rafto Prize for human rights.




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North Korea Launches Rocket

It looks like North Korea's rocket turned into a damp squib, despite its claim that it has sent a satellite into orbit and the nation is now enjoying patriotic broadcasts on their television.

US and South Korea said that no object connected to the missile had reached orbit.

Hotel Ryugyong :  another damp squib

All the usual suspects have expressed their concern as they believe that the real purpose was not the launching of a satellite but a test for a long-range missile, in breach of a UN resolution. The Security Council will meet to formulate a response.

What consequences North Korea will suffer for its defiant act remains to be seen, but it is not entirely without friends. Both China and Russia have called for restraint.
                                                                                                                                                        

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Open Carry - Cowboys Want to Carry Guns in Plain View

Open carry laws allow handguns to be carried openly - provided the gun-owner owns his gun legally and subject to some restricted places. The state of the cowboys, Texas, is one of only six states that do not have such laws. The cowboys are not pleased and want to be treated like people in most other states. The cowboys want to carry guns in plain view.

A group called the Texas Citizen Defense League is backing an online petition, with over 3,500 signatories, asking for a law permitting Texans to carry handguns openly. They feel that it is part of Texas' tradition. In the old days, as we can see in the movies, no self-respecting frontiersman would want to be seen dead without a holstered six-shooter. Some gunslingers even carried two, one on each side of the hip.

What do the Injuns have to say about all this, I wonder. Scalping was also a long-held tradition, I believe.


Technorati Tags: cowboys. injuns, open carry, texas, texans, texas citizen defense league, open carry law

Nature, Politics and the Olympics

The problems created by politics are man made. Politics are a power-struggle, with protagonists espousing their own world views, many with idealistic premises, but some are deceiving themselves and others and are in it for power and self-survival.

The Olympics symbolise something more pure - sports and the sporting instinct, the desire to excel are universal, but as we have seen the Olympics are not immune to politics.

Nature is beyond all men, though we try to control it for our benefit. But in the end the power of nature, when it's unleashed with all its might, is just something men have to suffer. Yet even nature is impacted by politics.

The recent natural disasters in Myanmar and China serve as poignant reminders. Despite the offers of help from international groups, the Myanmese authorities are slow to let the world in, adding more tragedy and suffering to the victims of the cyclone.

China has been bearing the brunt of world criticism over its treatment of Tibet and other policies, highlighted in the glare of the Olympics. Yet with the major earthquakes striking Sichuan province, China has at least rallied its forces in its rescue efforts, and has responded to the tragedy in a compassionate fashion.

The earthquake has somewhat softened the hard outlook which the recent protests over the Olympic preliminary events have engendered.