Comment: It is quite interesting how some people gather to do something meaningful like protecting animals from being inhumanly abused but eventually end being a 'terrorist' threatening people's lifes. I think in social movements there are always some irrational acting people deviating from their initial purpose of forming a movement and we may be could discuss how we can prevent extremists going too far with their acting.
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UCLA Profs and Scientists Sued Animal-Rights Radicals
Now They're Breathing Slightly Easier
A small win against extremism
By Max Taves Published on August 28, 2008 LA weekly
Amorphous, leaderless, violent, the radicals recently torched a UCLA van.FOR UCLA, BAD NEWS COMES in lowercase, typo-plagued vulgarity and anonymous "communiqués," like this one recently sent out to dozens of local and national media:
"on the nights of july 23 and 27, we stole two more UCLA vans from Riverside and Chino Hills and have expropriated the funds for the vans to help animals," reads one communiqué. "So far we've cost UCLA over 150 thousand dollars in vans which is just a start to penalize them for the use of our tax money for gruesome primate experiments."
Its animal-rights extremist authors — who implied that they were UCLA students — suggested that fellow classmates or "anyone else who care about monkeys being tormented and killed by callous fucks ... confront them covertly or overtly where ever and whenever you can. hey, how about following them to their cars in their parking structures? There are a lot of ways to cost the bastards money and make torturing nonhuman animals less rewarding."
The announcement's claim that two of the university's vans were stolen last month was false, school officials tell the L.A. Weekly. But other claims have been true. In June, extremists destroyed an empty UCLA van in Irvine with a homemade bomb. In February, the front door of the home of biomedical researcher Edythe London — whose addiction research involves experimenting on vervet monkeys — was firebombed. Last October, the extremists flooded her house with a garden hose snaked inside, causing $30,000 in damages.
Masked, bullhorn-wielding animal-rights activists have made protesting outside these researchers' houses a ritual. Bizarre threats — too many to list — are common. Dr. Arthur Rosenbaum has received two anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night claiming that a bomb was in his backyard, and giving him 30 minutes to flee.
Both were hoaxes, but a bomb placed under his car in June 2007 was not. His entire street was evacuated before a police bomb squad defused it.
One targeted UCLA ophthalmology professor, who oversees an experiment that holds clues for ending forms of blindness, doesn't actually touch animals. Yet even he and Roberto Peccei, UCLA's vice chancellor for research, have been targeted many times.
Last summer at 3 a.m., a lone extremist stood near the vice chancellor's window and chanted, "Roberto Peccei, you will never be safe," before pulling a security company sign out of the ground and throwing it against Peccei's house, which he smeared with mud.
Throughout all this, law enforcement has come up short. Not one suspect has been apprehended, much less charged, prompting a basic question: Why are UCLA's animal-rights radicals and chronic tormentors attacking the scientists and researchers with impunity?
Domestic terrorism experts at RAND say that their unique organizational structure makes identifying its members difficult. "They're so decentralized," says RAND terrorism analyst Brian Jackson. "The individual pieces are so loosely coupled together. ... The argument is that if you structure a movement in this way [it] can't be taken down. The pieces aren't even together."
Increased government surveillance powers have made communication difficult, but the Internet helps them get around those problems.
"It's one way that individuals who don't know each other can get access to the strategic thinking [of others]," says Jackson. The Internet "provides a general link."
That's the approach used by Jean Barnes, a 55-year-old former Delta airlines flight attendant who says she hasn't been to California in "at least 10 or 11 years." But on her creepy, extremist Web site, in a section titled, "Targets," Barnes' UCLAprimatefreedom.com provided animal-rights radicals in Los Angeles with detailed information about UCLA researchers and staff, including head-shots, e-mails and home addresses. Under court order, Barnes was forced to remove that information from her site early this year.*
Blatantly inviting violence, she told the Weekly this year, "I am comfortable with that, or I wouldn't have put it up there. Have you got a picture of the judge? Maybe I'll put a picture of him and his home address up there, too."
The amorphous, leaderless, violent, fringe nature of the animal-rights movement keeps such groups from planning large-scale, coordinated attacks, say researchers into the phenomenon. But, at the same time, "There's no constraint on what an individual can do in the name of animal rights or liberation," says RAND's Peter Chalk, who has taught about domestic terror groups at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.
Consider animal-rights extremistJerry Vlasak's response last April to a Utah reporter's question about whether murder was an acceptable tool for promoting animal rights. "Whatever it takes to stop someone from abusing animals is certainly morally acceptable," said Vlasak, who likes to drop the names of major hospitals while purporting to be an emergency room surgeon and has duped much of the media into believing it. (The Weeklyhas been unable to find any hospital where Vlasak performs surgery.)
Vlasak, who styles himself the chief of the "North American Animal Liberation Press Office," says things like, "If a researcher won't stop abusing animals and is stopped physically, whether with the use of force or is killed, I certainly won't lose sleep over that idea."
The FBI, which hopes to prosecute animal-rights extremists as domestic terrorists, won't let its agents discuss UCLA with the media. But what the bureau's representatives do say seems to affirm terrorism analysts' concerns.
Amorphous, leaderless, violent, the radicals recently torched a UCLA van."They're challenging, in that you have individuals taking credit anonymously," says Laura Eimiller of the FBI's L.A. office. "There are parallel investigations going on several attacks. We're concerned that violence has escalated." Joe Schadler of the FBI's San Francisco office, which is investigating recent attacks on UC Santa Cruz researchers, agrees: "There's a lot of secrecy."
So UCLA has taken matters into its own hands. In the fiscal year 2007, UCLA paid $300,000 for enhanced security — home security systems and, in some cases, private security guards — on targeted researchers, says UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton. Last April in Santa Monica Superior Court, the university won a preliminary injunction against the three most visible groups — UCLA Primate Freedom, the Animal Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Brigade — and the five most obnoxious, above-ground activists.
Those five are Kevin Olliff, Ramin Saber, Linda Greene, Hillary Roney and Tim Rusmisel. They have often appeared at the homes of UCLA researchers, where they've been videotaped by UCLA police leading chants like "Burn the fuckers to the ground!" and "We know where you sleep at night!"
The injunction, which UCLA hopes to make permanent next February, was a minor victory. It stipulated that all animal-rights protesters had to stay 50 feet away from researchers' homes during the day and could come no closer than 150 feet at night. The three groups were also barred from posting the home addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information of UCLA researchers on their Web sites, including Barnes' UCLAprimatefreedom.com.
The legal action has had an impact. "Since the injunction went into effect, there has been a reduction in demonstrations outside the homes of faculty members," spokesman Hampton tells the Weekly. "I can't say that's specifically because of the injunction, but we have noticed a decrease."
Ramin Saber's recent activity would seem to suggest he's right. The 36 year old, once a regular face at protests, has been absent for "a while," says Saber, who explains he has "been busy doing other things. I had to take a short break from protesting."
He says the drop in protesting at UCLA has nothing to do with the restraining order, but admits there's been a drop in "the actual number of activists available and the availability of organizers and legal observers." He insists UCLA has not shut them up. "I have not been protesting in a while. That will change."
* As originally published in print, this article incorrectly stated that www.UCLAprimatefreedom.com currently provides personal information on UCLA researchers.
[Go to the www.indymedia.org websites for information about collective action and social movements written mostly by social movement participants or sympathizers instead of filtered through a commercial media.]
1. Mark Whitaker
2. Changing Repertoires of Protest in U.S.A Politics: Home Vigils against the Powerful, a 'Return' to the Past though people pretend it is novel
3. This is interesting and it will help me demonstrate the idea of repertoires of social movements, cultural embeddedness, and how repertoires change to adapt to failed 'punch' or power of their strategies. This strategy has been utilized against protests of animal experimenters at their homes instead of merely at their 'public' place of work. What is interesting is that the home in the USA is starting to lose its taboo of private designation or apolitical designation. I will comment in class about how this is a huge turnaround from the British colonial era where the private house was a major public site of protest, even the main focus, to change policy or elite behavior in social movements. Its fascinating to me this development because the categories of public, private, and secret I think are major ways to think about changing repertoires. Social movements, being public expressions, have the ability to do 'frame stretching' upon novel locations simply by existing at that location. So a previously unpolitical location can be granted public space/debate when social movement appear to utilize that space for it.
I'll talk about this as somewhat a response (I think) to the U.S.'s heightened political constraints on public space assembly and U.S. citizens disenfranchisement from their own public venues of democratic feedback on major policy issues. So novel public spaces are created elsewhere and the strategy is 'exportable' and shared across movements in a form of social learning. State/movement interactions, strategy interactions of both, and social learning noted.
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1 of 2.
newswire article reporting portland metro 09.Sep.2008 09:41 actions & protests | imperialism & war The Rude Activist author: lone vet e-mail:e-mail: lonevet2008@comcast.net
Time for being nice is gone!
earl this is the law, not what pelosi says earl this is the law, not what pelosi says [Picture of the U.S. Constitution]
Last weekend started with a meeting Thursday to start the planning for the presentation of the Trial of George W. Bush, it ended by getting into a confrontation with Willy Smith and Mac Prichard about our protest outside of Prichard's house.
I have not seen Willy so upset, he was almost foaming at the mouth, telling me I had crossed the line by protesting at a private home. [oh?]
Willy told me in very clear language that if we blocked people coming in he would have us arrested. Prichard was angry about me upsetting his wife and ruining their fundraiser for the Earlman.
I was kind of taken aback by their reaction, there were only three of us and we were not going to disrupt the party, just silently witness the continuation of the "Cocktail Liberals" telling themselves what peacemakers they are and how they want the war to end.
Blumenauer after all, voted against the war! (He continues funding the occupation.)
We stayed a little past 1830 and called it a day. Most of the people attending the party said hello, and looked a little confused to see protesters outside of a democratic leader's home.
Mr. Prichard is a delegate and was at the DNC last week, you just know he was trying to stop the arrest of protesters outside and made many speeches condemning the actions the following week of the police in St. Paul. NO?----sorry must have been someone else.
We will return to the earlman's den this Thursday and every Thursday until bush is out of office or our congressman calls for the impeachment, indictment and incarceration of all the criminals in the White House. Everywhere the earlman goes to raise money we will be there, he will see our red shirts with "Impeach" on them. If this makes people uncomfortable---too fu**ing bad! Activists are rude to politicians!
Last Thursday we read Chapter 1 of the play, this coming Thursday we should do Chapter 2, all who read seemed to have a good time. There were some fun things I did, got to see Sharon at her booth in the Belmont St. Fair, got to hang with Chapter 72 VFP and listen to some great music. Even bought a book from Crystal over at the anniversary for KBOO. So it was busy but fun. See you all on Thursday.
High noon at 729 Oregon St.
For Justice and Peace Joe Walsh-lone vet, (the rude activist)
newswire article reporting united states 05.Jun.2005 18:53 actions & protests | animal rights Huntingdon Laboratories Client Executive Quits author: mouse For Immediate Release Contact AL Press Office at 818.932.9997
June 1, 2005
Huntingdon Laboratories Client Executive Quits Monrovia, CA: Mitchell Lardner has quit Sumitomo Corporation of America, a notorious client of the animal-testing laboratory Huntington Life Sciences (HLS), according to a letter mailed to the Animal Liberation Press Office last month. [Another strategy is going after the protest site indirectly, by protesting its main clients or supporters or funders if it is a business.]
Lardner's home and office had been targeted by both protests and sabotage in the Los Angeles area, evidently spurring his departure from the company.
In the letter received by the Press Office, Lardner's wife states she "hopes Mitchell's departure from Sumitomo effectively removes my family from any list of potential targets and that we can continue our lives free from the threat of any future actions against us". She does not mention the "threats" or "actions" that maim and kill thousands of animals at HLS, which her husband and his company financially supported.
Sumitomo has not only contracted with HLS to test chemicals on animals, they have also shipped primates from Mauritius to suffer and die in labs, including HLS, all over the world.
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) has been exposed in five separate undercover investigations to openly abuse animals, killing 500 per day testing such products as oven cleaners and pesticides.
HLS is a contract testing company with facilities in the United Kingdom and New Jersey.
Its suppliers and customers have been under unrelenting attack by animal advocates for the last 3 years, driving them to near-bankruptcy.
A communiqué issued last year after an attack on Lardner's home reads, in part:
"this poem is dedicated to Mitchell Lardner who we visited during the early hours of April 21 at 464 N. Myrtle in Monrovia, California:
Puppy killers we do hate As a Sumitomo employee it was your fate To wake up to your home covered in red paint What you must do there is no debate...
Sever your ties with HLS or we will be back. -ALF"
A spokesperson for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) stated "While we do not condone breaking the law, it is clear the passion of some animal defenders will hold those accountable that make animal torture a reality in places like HLS". For more information on the SHAC campaign against HLS cruelty, visit www.shacamerica.net.
A Humbling, Painful, Social Movement to Mend Korean Religious Dissension
This is interesting because it is the same people and same strategy utilized before for Saemangeum's protest as well as the anti-canal protest. Though with a different meaning this time. I think of Ghandi's self-starvation to stop the Hindu's and Muslim's from rioting against each other after he helped lead Indians to Independence from the British with his 'truth force' sartyagraha movement.
The fact that they are old and the fact that this is potentially life threatening seems to be part of the point: this will be weighing on many Korean's minds I think. Same with Ghandi 60 years ago....
I note that this cross-religious mobilization seems to be very regionalized to Korea? The same happened during the anti-beef protests. In other countries a more singular religion tends to be the 'moral force' of critique or remonstration. In plurally religious Korea, leadership groups are ecumenical which I think makes it harder for governments to play one against the other.
Comments welcome.
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Humbling Self in Pursuit of Harmony
Ven. Sukyeong, right, and priest Moon Kyu-hyeon start their pilgrimage for peace at Mt. Jiri, South Jeolla Province, Sept. 4.
They will perform the ritual of prostrating themselves full length on the ground and rising every three steps during their twomonth journey to Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. / Korea Times Photo by Won You-hon
By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter
While the society is split over the administration's alleged favoritism of Christianity over Buddhism, a Buddhist monk and a Catholic priest have embarked on a long, painful journey around the nation to help mend the division.
Ven. Sukyeong and priest Moon Kyu-hyeon started their 59-day pilgrimage on Sept. 4 in Mt. Jiri and will wrap up their 200-kilometer-journey on Nov.1 at Gongju, South Chungcheong Province.
The two leaders and their followers showed their willingness to work for peace among different religious beliefs by prostrating themselves full length on the ground, rising, taking three steps forward, and then repeating the action. They repeat this hundreds of times to move forward.
Putting one's knees, elbows and forehead on the ground at the same time implies the utmost respect, a Buddhist group spokesman said. It is much harder than three steps and one bow, he added.
In fact, on Wednesday, the sixth day of the journey, the monk and the priest both suffered from severe stress and pain.
``When throwing oneself on the ground, little pebbles get into the flesh and the body cannot handle the shock,'' Buddhists' environmental civic group Buddha Eco's spokesman Myung Kye-hwan said.
Especially since Sukyeong has undergone knee surgery and Moon, at 65 years old is an elder, the physical performance isn't easy.
``There are some volunteers trying to look after their health, but since the trip involves extreme physical stress, the condition of their bodies is getting worse every day,'' Myung said.
Among the long line of followers who are also seeking ``harmony and understanding among each other under the Lee Myung-bak administration,'' there are some protestant pastors and people from other religions, too. Since Protestants do not allow bowing in many cases, they declined to be at the front, an insider said.
Moon expressed no concern about following the Buddhist rules. He said, ``These are rituals to empty ourselves. We need that, too.''
Spokesman Myung said a growing number of people are expressing interest in participating in the journey. ``For the past several months, we have seen the President's arrogance and his failure to accept something different. However, we decided to stop blaming him. In other words, we decided to accept his flaws and repent ourselves. That is the spirit of religion and belief, love and compassion'' he said.
Even during their ordeal, the two leaders managed to crack a joke. ``I think I thank the President. If it weren't for him, when would I ever have chance to do this again?'' Sukyung said.
``When I had to lower myself by throwing myself on the ground, it really hurts. I really didn't like the feeling. Then I realized, that's why people cannot be humble nor make themselves lower in position than others ― it hurts,'' Moon said.
This is the third event of its kind since 2000. In 2000 they protested against the Saemangeum reclamation by making one bow in every three steps and in 2007 against the cross-country canal project, one of President Lee's main pledges.
1. Kyung-Hee, Kang 2. ‘길 위의 성직자’ 수경 스님·문규현 신부 지리산~계룡산 오체투지 고행 (Priests On Road, Buddhist Su-Kyung and Father Mun Gyu-Hyun's Ji-Ri~Kye-Ryong Mountains Penance)
3. I couldn't find this news written in English. News is about the pilgrimage of two priets Su-Kyung(Buddhist), Mun Gyu-Hyuen(Catholic), which belongs to continued cycle of longer movement of "life, peace and human" campaign, as well as recent US beef protest and series of contentions with the cabinet. They are leading figures of environment movements of Korea particulary famous for the pilgrimage against the Korean canal, movements aginst Saemangum dam and many other major events. In Korea, Buddhist priests are in the center of environment movement, and Catholic priets took a siginificant role in democracy movement. Recent legal fight against SamSung was supported by the association of Catholic priests for justice, which Mun Gyu-Hyun belongs to. And after the association's emergency christian mass in the plaza of Seoul city hall, the fater was arranged to leave his parish earlier than usual term.
It assumes the form of a buddhist pilgrimage, 五体投地(wǔ tǐ tóu dì), or "vote of five to live"; the most respectful way of worship, bowing with five parts of body(forehead, 2 knees and 2 elbows) to the ground, and very intensive penance which can be led to death given the state of their health. This course is scheduled to cover about 200km for two months this year, from Ji-Ri mountains to Kye-Ryong mountains, and another one toward Myo-Hyang mountains in Noth Korea next year. It shows the social role of religious leaders in the country, which has a very long history. They are very intelligent and good at using religious symbols. It is also a good example of cadre. Begining the journey, they said that it was the way to share the agony of the times at the moment of vanishing hope, lowering themselves. The message is toward the society, not only the cabinet, calling for the change of the development paradigm.
------------------------- “밥을 조금씩만 먹어야겠는걸. 삼보일배 때보다 훨씬 힘들구먼.”(수경 스님)“내가 무서운 스님 때문에 덩달아 고생이야.”(문규현 신부)
불교환경연대 수경(화계사 주지) 스님과 천주교정의구현사제단 문규현 신부.2003년 새만금 방조제 공사중단을 요구하는 삼보일배 장정을 마친 뒤부터 ‘길 위의 성직자들’로 흔히 불리는 종교계의 대표적 ‘행동하는 성직자’들이다.
전북 부안을 출발해 서울 입성까지 300㎞를 단 하루도 쉬지않고 57일간 대장정을 치러 불교의 하심(下心) 의식인 삼보일배를 대중들의 인기있는 의사표현 수단으로 옮겨놓은 주인공들이기도 하다. 두 사람이 이번에는 삼보일배가 아닌 오체투지(五體投地)로 고행 길을 함께하고 있다. 팔과 다리, 몸뚱이, 머리를 땅에 조아린 뒤 다시 일어나 세 발 걷고 팔, 다리, 몸뚱이, 머리를 땅에 조아리기를 반복하는 ‘사람과 생명, 평화의 길을 찾는 순례’.7일째 순례단에 동행한 불교계 인사들은 “오랜 동반자인 두 사람이 마치 형제처럼 농담을 주고받으며 고된 순례를 이어가고 있다.”고 전한다.
이번 순례가 이뤄진 것은 지난달 27일 종교편향 규탄 범불교도대회를 앞두고 오체투지 순례를 결심한 수경 스님이 각각 다른 종교의 성직자임에도 오랜 도반으로 지내온 문규현 신부를 찾아 동행의 뜻을 전한데 따른 것.
두 사람은 지난 2월부터 100일 동안 한반도대운하 건설을 반대하며 4대 강을 따라 1300㎞를 도보로 걷는 ‘생명의 강을 모시는 사람들’ 순례 길도 동행했다. 지난 4일 지리산 노고단 고개를 출발해 계룡산까지 200여 ㎞를 59일 동안 이어가는 또 한번의 동반 대장정. 두 사람이 오체투지의 고행을 통해 함께 외치는 무언의 목소리는 갈라진 마음과 흩어지는 몸들을 향한 자성의 촉구이다.
“독단과 독선으로 총체적 난국에 빠져 희망을 잃어가고 있는 시점에서, 우리 자신을 낮은 마음으로 돌아보고 시대의 아픔을 함께 나누는 길”이라고 두 사람은 출발 선언을 했다.
문규현 신부는 “민심이 천심임을 알게 하고, 하늘을 두려워하고 민의 앞에 겸손하게 하라.”는 기도와 함께 “생명의 귀함과 소중함을 선택하도록 하소서”라는 바람을 전했다.
매일 오체투지로 3∼5㎞를 걸어 11월1일쯤 계룡산 신원사에 도착할 예정. 내년에는 계룡산부터 임진각, 묘향산을 잇는 ‘평화 순례’도 함께 하기로 했다.
Title:Ad Boycott Campaign Legal or Not? Exactly they have the right to make their voice heard by an boycott campaign. But what I concern is that is it really necessary for them doing in this way? I suppose what exist in their mind is the definite rightness of their actions, so they bring pressure on the newspaper with such a great boycott. But actually they might not be that right, because there still comes out different voices. I'd like to see a more moral way of them to brigh out such kind of boycott, since what they boycotted were just the ads in articles about American beef, not the beef itself. ---------------------------
Ad Boycott Campaign Legal or Not? The government and Internet users are clashing over the latter's campaign to boycott companies running ads in conservative newspapers that are critical of the candlelit vigils against American beef imports.
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han and prosecutors said Monday that the authorities will strengthen its monitoring of the campaign and take legal action against netizens acting illegally. While many accuse Kim of violating consumers or readers' rights, some defend him for protecting the media from ``groundless accusations.''
About 2,000 netizens visited the ministry and the prosecution's Web sites and said ``I come clean that I am the one who held the campaign. I cannot stand the papers. If this is a real crime, then come and put me in jail,'' or ``I have never participated in the vigil nor the boycott but the government made me realize it's time I do.''
The dispute started when groups of netizens launched a campaign to boycott the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo newspapers, the three biggest media outlets in the country. The three were also labeled as conservative papers that defend U.S. beef import resumption, and criticize the candlelit vigils as being controlled by communists or leftists.
The government announcement came after netizens held a campaign encouraging people to stop subscribing to the newspapers and pressurizing companies to stop running ads in the papers.
A Chosun Ilbo official complained some people threatened or swore at the marketing staff.
``Some said they would come and attack me or even harm my family if we keep our ads in the papers because it is such a dishonor,'' a staff member at a snack company said.
Tens of companies reportedly announced that they would indeed drop the advertising contract because they ``listen to consumers' voices.'' According to the Journalists Association of Korea, the number of large corporations' ads printed in the three papers dropped from 12-15 per issue to 2-4.
The dailies filed a complaint with the Broadcasting and Communications Commission and other government departments. The commission will determine whether the boycott campaign is legal or not. For its part, the ministry said Friday that it will do its best to stop ``illegal and violent'' behavior.
The ministry's move has drawn protest from netizens. Through Friday to Sunday, the number of people participating in the candlelit vigil against beef imports and President Lee Myung-bak jumped. Some online community members held up signs alleging the papers manipulated political and administrative power.
``They are the readers and consumers of the papers and the products; and it is their right to choose what they want to read and what not to ― advertisements are also part of the papers,'' the Korean Internet Journalists Association representative Lee June-hee said.
``If they do not like the paper then they should boycott the paper only; but intervening in the PR process of a company is a different issue,'' media critic Byun Hee-jae said.
The boycott is now moving in a new direction; netizens are promoting companies who gave up putting advertisements in the three. Samyang, food manufacturer, recently benefited from the boom, as many people are promoting the company's food rather than Nongshim, who refused to withdraw the ads.
On Friday, Samyang stock price rose by 14.95 percent while Nongshim showed a slight fall. --------
2. Title : Violence mars Mecxico's independence day celebration
3. I'm interested in these topics about the government and guerillas(or protesters, demonstrators) against that government because in these cases, usually innocence citizens are suffered from that situation.(This article is included this casem too.)Figuring out the relations among the government, protesters and citizens is important because I believe that it belings to what we're going to learn from this class.
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Eight people were killed and 101 were wounded in two explosions during a celebration of Mexico's independence day Monday night, a Mexican official said Tuesday.
Wounded people get help after blasts Monday night during an independence day event in Morelia, Mexico.
Two people remained in grave condition, said Roman Armando Luna Escalante, secretary of health in Michoacan state. Eleven of the wounded were children, Luna Escalante said. None of them are gravely injured.
The explosions occurred around 11 p.m. near the governor's residence in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. The second blast happened shortly afterward a few blocks away.
Officials would not say if they have any suspects or if any group has claimed responsibility.
Some experts pointed to drug cartels or insurgents.
"It could be a warning to the federal government, which has put a lot of money and manpower to deal with drugs, which are very powerful there," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank on Western Hemisphere affairs. "It could be leftist guerrilla groups that occasionally throw a bomb.
"The problem is that this is part of a real wave of violence that is consuming Mexico."
Don't Miss Bodies of 24 shooting victims found in Mexico Headless bodies may have been burned in ritual Last week the bodies of 24 people, bound and shot execution-style, were found in Atlapulco, a town just south of Mexico City.
Those killings Friday came roughly two weeks after tens of thousands of Mexicans marched on the nation's capital, calling for greater government action against the wave of violent crime.
Non-governmental groups estimate there have been more than 1,500 killings in Mexico this year linked to organized crime.
In late August, Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with the country's 32 governors to develop a plan to battle the rise in violent crime.
Calderon, who was born in Morelia, condemned the attacks and said federal officials will redouble efforts to help state authorities investigate.
More than 1,500 soldiers and federal police were maintaining order Tuesday, which marks the 198th anniversary of what Mexicans regard as their independence day.
Festivities typically start the night before because on September 16, 1810, shortly before dawn, a priest in a village in the state of Guanajuato rang a church bell and called on Mexicans to fight for independence from Spain.
The celebration in Morelia on Monday night was one of hundreds nationwide to celebrate that call for independence, which Mexico formally achieved in 1821.
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
7 comments:
Name: Hojin Yoo
Title: extremists getting terrorists
Comment: It is quite interesting how some people gather to do something meaningful like protecting animals from being inhumanly abused but eventually end being a 'terrorist' threatening people's lifes. I think in social movements there are always some irrational acting people deviating from their initial purpose of forming a movement and we may be could discuss how we can prevent extremists going too far with their acting.
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UCLA Profs and Scientists Sued Animal-Rights Radicals
Now They're Breathing Slightly Easier
A small win against extremism
By Max Taves
Published on August 28, 2008
LA weekly
Amorphous, leaderless, violent, the radicals recently torched a UCLA van.FOR UCLA, BAD NEWS COMES in lowercase, typo-plagued vulgarity and anonymous "communiqués," like this one recently sent out to dozens of local and national media:
"on the nights of july 23 and 27, we stole two more UCLA vans from Riverside and Chino Hills and have expropriated the funds for the vans to help animals," reads one communiqué. "So far we've cost UCLA over 150 thousand dollars in vans which is just a start to penalize them for the use of our tax money for gruesome primate experiments."
Its animal-rights extremist authors — who implied that they were UCLA students — suggested that fellow classmates or "anyone else who care about monkeys being tormented and killed by callous fucks ... confront them covertly or overtly where ever and whenever you can. hey, how about following them to their cars in their parking structures? There are a lot of ways to cost the bastards money and make torturing nonhuman animals less rewarding."
The announcement's claim that two of the university's vans were stolen last month was false, school officials tell the L.A. Weekly. But other claims have been true. In June, extremists destroyed an empty UCLA van in Irvine with a homemade bomb. In February, the front door of the home of biomedical researcher Edythe London — whose addiction research involves experimenting on vervet monkeys — was firebombed. Last October, the extremists flooded her house with a garden hose snaked inside, causing $30,000 in damages.
Masked, bullhorn-wielding animal-rights activists have made protesting outside these researchers' houses a ritual. Bizarre threats — too many to list — are common. Dr. Arthur Rosenbaum has received two anonymous phone calls in the middle of the night claiming that a bomb was in his backyard, and giving him 30 minutes to flee.
Both were hoaxes, but a bomb placed under his car in June 2007 was not. His entire street was evacuated before a police bomb squad defused it.
One targeted UCLA ophthalmology professor, who oversees an experiment that holds clues for ending forms of blindness, doesn't actually touch animals. Yet even he and Roberto Peccei, UCLA's vice chancellor for research, have been targeted many times.
Last summer at 3 a.m., a lone extremist stood near the vice chancellor's window and chanted, "Roberto Peccei, you will never be safe," before pulling a security company sign out of the ground and throwing it against Peccei's house, which he smeared with mud.
Throughout all this, law enforcement has come up short. Not one suspect has been apprehended, much less charged, prompting a basic question: Why are UCLA's animal-rights radicals and chronic tormentors attacking the scientists and researchers with impunity?
Domestic terrorism experts at RAND say that their unique organizational structure makes identifying its members difficult. "They're so decentralized," says RAND terrorism analyst Brian Jackson. "The individual pieces are so loosely coupled together. ... The argument is that if you structure a movement in this way [it] can't be taken down. The pieces aren't even together."
Increased government surveillance powers have made communication difficult, but the Internet helps them get around those problems.
"It's one way that individuals who don't know each other can get access to the strategic thinking [of others]," says Jackson. The Internet "provides a general link."
That's the approach used by Jean Barnes, a 55-year-old former Delta airlines flight attendant who says she hasn't been to California in "at least 10 or 11 years." But on her creepy, extremist Web site, in a section titled, "Targets," Barnes' UCLAprimatefreedom.com provided animal-rights radicals in Los Angeles with detailed information about UCLA researchers and staff, including head-shots, e-mails and home addresses. Under court order, Barnes was forced to remove that information from her site early this year.*
Blatantly inviting violence, she told the Weekly this year, "I am comfortable with that, or I wouldn't have put it up there. Have you got a picture of the judge? Maybe I'll put a picture of him and his home address up there, too."
The amorphous, leaderless, violent, fringe nature of the animal-rights movement keeps such groups from planning large-scale, coordinated attacks, say researchers into the phenomenon. But, at the same time, "There's no constraint on what an individual can do in the name of animal rights or liberation," says RAND's Peter Chalk, who has taught about domestic terror groups at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey.
Consider animal-rights extremistJerry Vlasak's response last April to a Utah reporter's question about whether murder was an acceptable tool for promoting animal rights. "Whatever it takes to stop someone from abusing animals is certainly morally acceptable," said Vlasak, who likes to drop the names of major hospitals while purporting to be an emergency room surgeon and has duped much of the media into believing it. (The Weeklyhas been unable to find any hospital where Vlasak performs surgery.)
Vlasak, who styles himself the chief of the "North American Animal Liberation Press Office," says things like, "If a researcher won't stop abusing animals and is stopped physically, whether with the use of force or is killed, I certainly won't lose sleep over that idea."
The FBI, which hopes to prosecute animal-rights extremists as domestic terrorists, won't let its agents discuss UCLA with the media. But what the bureau's representatives do say seems to affirm terrorism analysts' concerns.
Amorphous, leaderless, violent, the radicals recently torched a UCLA van."They're challenging, in that you have individuals taking credit anonymously," says Laura Eimiller of the FBI's L.A. office. "There are parallel investigations going on several attacks. We're concerned that violence has escalated." Joe Schadler of the FBI's San Francisco office, which is investigating recent attacks on UC Santa Cruz researchers, agrees: "There's a lot of secrecy."
So UCLA has taken matters into its own hands. In the fiscal year 2007, UCLA paid $300,000 for enhanced security — home security systems and, in some cases, private security guards — on targeted researchers, says UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton. Last April in Santa Monica Superior Court, the university won a preliminary injunction against the three most visible groups — UCLA Primate Freedom, the Animal Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Brigade — and the five most obnoxious, above-ground activists.
Those five are Kevin Olliff, Ramin Saber, Linda Greene, Hillary Roney and Tim Rusmisel. They have often appeared at the homes of UCLA researchers, where they've been videotaped by UCLA police leading chants like "Burn the fuckers to the ground!" and "We know where you sleep at night!"
The injunction, which UCLA hopes to make permanent next February, was a minor victory. It stipulated that all animal-rights protesters had to stay 50 feet away from researchers' homes during the day and could come no closer than 150 feet at night. The three groups were also barred from posting the home addresses, telephone numbers and other personal information of UCLA researchers on their Web sites, including Barnes' UCLAprimatefreedom.com.
The legal action has had an impact. "Since the injunction went into effect, there has been a reduction in demonstrations outside the homes of faculty members," spokesman Hampton tells the Weekly. "I can't say that's specifically because of the injunction, but we have noticed a decrease."
Ramin Saber's recent activity would seem to suggest he's right. The 36 year old, once a regular face at protests, has been absent for "a while," says Saber, who explains he has "been busy doing other things. I had to take a short break from protesting."
He says the drop in protesting at UCLA has nothing to do with the restraining order, but admits there's been a drop in "the actual number of activists available and the availability of organizers and legal observers." He insists UCLA has not shut them up. "I have not been protesting in a while. That will change."
* As originally published in print, this article incorrectly stated that www.UCLAprimatefreedom.com currently provides personal information on UCLA researchers.
Reach the writer at maxtaves@gmail.com.
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http://www.laweekly.com/2008-08-28/news/a-small-win-against-extremism/1
[Go to the www.indymedia.org websites for information about collective action and social movements written mostly by social movement participants or sympathizers instead of filtered through a commercial media.]
1. Mark Whitaker
2. Changing Repertoires of Protest in U.S.A Politics: Home Vigils against the Powerful, a 'Return' to the Past though people pretend it is novel
3. This is interesting and it will help me demonstrate the idea of repertoires of social movements, cultural embeddedness, and how repertoires change to adapt to failed 'punch' or power of their strategies. This strategy has been utilized against protests of animal experimenters at their homes instead of merely at their 'public' place of work. What is interesting is that the home in the USA is starting to lose its taboo of private designation or apolitical designation. I will comment in class about how this is a huge turnaround from the British colonial era where the private house was a major public site of protest, even the main focus, to change policy or elite behavior in social movements. Its fascinating to me this development because the categories of public, private, and secret I think are major ways to think about changing repertoires. Social movements, being public expressions, have the ability to do 'frame stretching' upon novel locations simply by existing at that location. So a previously unpolitical location can be granted public space/debate when social movement appear to utilize that space for it.
I'll talk about this as somewhat a response (I think) to the U.S.'s heightened political constraints on public space assembly and U.S. citizens disenfranchisement from their own public venues of democratic feedback on major policy issues. So novel public spaces are created elsewhere and the strategy is 'exportable' and shared across movements in a form of social learning. State/movement interactions, strategy interactions of both, and social learning noted.
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1 of 2.
newswire article reporting portland metro 09.Sep.2008 09:41
actions & protests | imperialism & war
The Rude Activist
author: lone vet e-mail:e-mail: lonevet2008@comcast.net
Time for being nice is gone!
earl this is the law, not what pelosi says
earl this is the law, not what pelosi says
[Picture of the U.S. Constitution]
Last weekend started with a meeting Thursday to start the planning for the presentation of the Trial of George W. Bush, it ended by getting into a confrontation with Willy Smith and Mac Prichard about our protest outside of Prichard's house.
I have not seen Willy so upset, he was almost foaming at the mouth, telling me I had crossed the line by protesting at a private home. [oh?]
Willy told me in very clear language that if we blocked people coming in he would have us arrested. Prichard was angry about me upsetting his wife and ruining their fundraiser for the Earlman.
I was kind of taken aback by their reaction, there were only three of us and we were not going to disrupt the party, just silently witness the continuation of the "Cocktail Liberals" telling themselves what peacemakers they are and how they want the war to end.
Blumenauer after all, voted against the war! (He continues funding the occupation.)
We stayed a little past 1830 and called it a day. Most of the people attending the party said hello, and looked a little confused to see protesters outside of a democratic leader's home.
Mr. Prichard is a delegate and was at the DNC last week, you just know he was trying to stop the arrest of protesters outside and made many speeches condemning the actions the following week of the police in St. Paul. NO?----sorry must have been someone else.
We will return to the earlman's den this Thursday and every Thursday until bush is out of office or our congressman calls for the impeachment, indictment and incarceration of all the criminals in the White House. Everywhere the earlman goes to raise money we will be there, he will see our red shirts with "Impeach" on them. If this makes people uncomfortable---too fu**ing bad! Activists are rude to politicians!
Last Thursday we read Chapter 1 of the play, this coming Thursday we should do Chapter 2, all who read seemed to have a good time. There were some fun things I did, got to see Sharon at her booth in the Belmont St. Fair, got to hang with Chapter 72 VFP and listen to some great music. Even bought a book from Crystal over at the anniversary for KBOO. So it was busy but fun. See you all on Thursday.
High noon at 729 Oregon St.
For Justice and Peace
Joe Walsh-lone vet, (the rude activist)
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/09/379413.shtml
2 of 2.
newswire article reporting united states 05.Jun.2005 18:53
actions & protests | animal rights
Huntingdon Laboratories Client Executive Quits
author: mouse
For Immediate Release
Contact AL Press Office at 818.932.9997
June 1, 2005
Huntingdon Laboratories Client Executive Quits
Monrovia, CA: Mitchell Lardner has quit Sumitomo Corporation of America, a notorious client of the animal-testing laboratory Huntington Life Sciences (HLS), according to a letter mailed to the Animal Liberation Press Office last month. [Another strategy is going after the protest site indirectly, by protesting its main clients or supporters or funders if it is a business.]
Lardner's home and office had been targeted by both protests and sabotage in the Los Angeles area, evidently spurring his departure from the company.
In the letter received by the Press Office, Lardner's wife states she "hopes Mitchell's departure from Sumitomo effectively removes my family from any list of potential targets and that we can continue our lives free from the threat of any future actions against us". She does not mention the "threats" or "actions" that maim and kill thousands of animals at HLS, which her husband and his company financially supported.
Sumitomo has not only contracted with HLS to test chemicals on animals, they have also shipped primates from Mauritius to suffer and die in labs, including HLS, all over the world.
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) has been exposed in five separate undercover investigations to openly abuse animals, killing 500 per day testing such products as oven cleaners and pesticides.
HLS is a contract testing company with facilities in the United Kingdom and New Jersey.
Its suppliers and customers have been under unrelenting attack by animal advocates for the last 3 years, driving them to near-bankruptcy.
A communiqué issued last year after an attack on Lardner's home reads, in part:
"this poem is dedicated to Mitchell Lardner who we visited during the early hours of April 21 at 464 N. Myrtle in Monrovia, California:
Puppy killers we do hate
As a Sumitomo employee it was your fate
To wake up to your home covered in red paint
What you must do there is no debate...
Sever your ties with HLS or we will be back.
-ALF"
A spokesperson for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) stated "While we do not condone breaking the law, it is clear the passion of some animal defenders will hold those accountable that make animal torture a reality in places like HLS". For more information on the SHAC campaign against HLS cruelty, visit www.shacamerica.net.
www.animalliberationpressoffice.org
press@animalliberationpressoffice.org
homepage: homepage: http:// www.animalliberationpressoffice.org
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/06/318811.shtml
Mark Whitaker
A Humbling, Painful, Social Movement to Mend Korean Religious Dissension
This is interesting because it is the same people and same strategy utilized before for Saemangeum's protest as well as the anti-canal protest. Though with a different meaning this time. I think of Ghandi's self-starvation to stop the Hindu's and Muslim's from rioting against each other after he helped lead Indians to Independence from the British with his 'truth force' sartyagraha movement.
The fact that they are old and the fact that this is potentially life threatening seems to be part of the point: this will be weighing on many Korean's minds I think. Same with Ghandi 60 years ago....
I note that this cross-religious mobilization seems to be very regionalized to Korea? The same happened during the anti-beef protests. In other countries a more singular religion tends to be the 'moral force' of critique or remonstration. In plurally religious Korea, leadership groups are ecumenical which I think makes it harder for governments to play one against the other.
Comments welcome.
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Humbling Self in Pursuit of Harmony
Ven. Sukyeong, right, and priest Moon Kyu-hyeon start their pilgrimage for peace at Mt. Jiri, South Jeolla Province, Sept. 4.
They will perform the ritual of prostrating themselves full length on the ground and rising every three steps during their twomonth journey to Gongju, South Chungcheong Province. / Korea Times Photo by Won You-hon
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
While the society is split over the administration's alleged favoritism of Christianity over Buddhism, a Buddhist monk and a Catholic priest have embarked on a long, painful journey around the nation to help mend the division.
Ven. Sukyeong and priest Moon Kyu-hyeon started their 59-day pilgrimage on Sept. 4 in Mt. Jiri and will wrap up their 200-kilometer-journey on Nov.1 at Gongju, South Chungcheong Province.
The two leaders and their followers showed their willingness to work for peace among different religious beliefs by prostrating themselves full length on the ground, rising, taking three steps forward, and then repeating the action. They repeat this hundreds of times to move forward.
Putting one's knees, elbows and forehead on the ground at the same time implies the utmost respect, a Buddhist group spokesman said. It is much harder than three steps and one bow, he added.
In fact, on Wednesday, the sixth day of the journey, the monk and the priest both suffered from severe stress and pain.
``When throwing oneself on the ground, little pebbles get into the flesh and the body cannot handle the shock,'' Buddhists' environmental civic group Buddha Eco's spokesman Myung Kye-hwan said.
Especially since Sukyeong has undergone knee surgery and Moon, at 65 years old is an elder, the physical performance isn't easy.
``There are some volunteers trying to look after their health, but since the trip involves extreme physical stress, the condition of their bodies is getting worse every day,'' Myung said.
Among the long line of followers who are also seeking ``harmony and understanding among each other under the Lee Myung-bak administration,'' there are some protestant pastors and people from other religions, too. Since Protestants do not allow bowing in many cases, they declined to be at the front, an insider said.
Moon expressed no concern about following the Buddhist rules. He said, ``These are rituals to empty ourselves. We need that, too.''
Spokesman Myung said a growing number of people are expressing interest in participating in the journey. ``For the past several months, we have seen the President's arrogance and his failure to accept something different. However, we decided to stop blaming him. In other words, we decided to accept his flaws and repent ourselves. That is the spirit of religion and belief, love and compassion'' he said.
Even during their ordeal, the two leaders managed to crack a joke. ``I think I thank the President. If it weren't for him, when would I ever have chance to do this again?'' Sukyung said.
``When I had to lower myself by throwing myself on the ground, it really hurts. I really didn't like the feeling. Then I realized, that's why people cannot be humble nor make themselves lower in position than others ― it hurts,'' Moon said.
This is the third event of its kind since 2000. In 2000 they protested against the Saemangeum reclamation by making one bow in every three steps and in 2007 against the cross-country canal project, one of President Lee's main pledges.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/113_30902.html
1. Kyung-Hee, Kang
2. ‘길 위의 성직자’ 수경 스님·문규현 신부 지리산~계룡산 오체투지 고행
(Priests On Road, Buddhist Su-Kyung and Father Mun Gyu-Hyun's Ji-Ri~Kye-Ryong Mountains Penance)
3. I couldn't find this news written in English. News is about the pilgrimage of two priets Su-Kyung(Buddhist), Mun Gyu-Hyuen(Catholic), which belongs to continued cycle of longer movement of "life, peace and human" campaign, as well as recent US beef protest and series of contentions with the cabinet. They are leading figures of environment movements of Korea particulary famous for the pilgrimage against the Korean canal, movements aginst Saemangum dam and many other major events. In Korea, Buddhist priests are in the center of environment movement, and Catholic priets took a siginificant role in democracy movement. Recent legal fight against SamSung was supported by the association of Catholic priests for justice, which Mun Gyu-Hyun belongs to. And after the association's emergency christian mass in the plaza of Seoul city hall, the fater was arranged to leave his parish earlier than usual term.
It assumes the form of a buddhist pilgrimage, 五体投地(wǔ tǐ tóu dì), or "vote of five to live"; the most respectful way of worship, bowing with five parts of body(forehead, 2 knees and 2 elbows) to the ground, and very intensive penance which can be led to death given the state of their health. This course is scheduled to cover about 200km for two months this year, from Ji-Ri mountains to Kye-Ryong mountains, and another one toward Myo-Hyang mountains in Noth Korea next year. It shows the social role of religious leaders in the country, which has a very long history. They are very intelligent and good at using religious symbols. It is also a good example of cadre. Begining the journey, they said that it was the way to share the agony of the times at the moment of vanishing hope, lowering themselves. The message is toward the society, not only the cabinet, calling for the change of the development paradigm.
You can see more pictures here.
http://www.jirisan.com//bbs/view.php?id=mountain&page=1&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=55
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“밥을 조금씩만 먹어야겠는걸. 삼보일배 때보다 훨씬 힘들구먼.”(수경 스님)“내가 무서운 스님 때문에 덩달아 고생이야.”(문규현 신부)
불교환경연대 수경(화계사 주지) 스님과 천주교정의구현사제단 문규현 신부.2003년 새만금 방조제 공사중단을 요구하는 삼보일배 장정을 마친 뒤부터 ‘길 위의 성직자들’로 흔히 불리는 종교계의 대표적 ‘행동하는 성직자’들이다.
전북 부안을 출발해 서울 입성까지 300㎞를 단 하루도 쉬지않고 57일간 대장정을 치러 불교의 하심(下心) 의식인 삼보일배를 대중들의 인기있는 의사표현 수단으로 옮겨놓은 주인공들이기도 하다. 두 사람이 이번에는 삼보일배가 아닌 오체투지(五體投地)로 고행 길을 함께하고 있다. 팔과 다리, 몸뚱이, 머리를 땅에 조아린 뒤 다시 일어나 세 발 걷고 팔, 다리, 몸뚱이, 머리를 땅에 조아리기를 반복하는 ‘사람과 생명, 평화의 길을 찾는 순례’.7일째 순례단에 동행한 불교계 인사들은 “오랜 동반자인 두 사람이 마치 형제처럼 농담을 주고받으며 고된 순례를 이어가고 있다.”고 전한다.
이번 순례가 이뤄진 것은 지난달 27일 종교편향 규탄 범불교도대회를 앞두고 오체투지 순례를 결심한 수경 스님이 각각 다른 종교의 성직자임에도 오랜 도반으로 지내온 문규현 신부를 찾아 동행의 뜻을 전한데 따른 것.
두 사람은 지난 2월부터 100일 동안 한반도대운하 건설을 반대하며 4대 강을 따라 1300㎞를 도보로 걷는 ‘생명의 강을 모시는 사람들’ 순례 길도 동행했다. 지난 4일 지리산 노고단 고개를 출발해 계룡산까지 200여 ㎞를 59일 동안 이어가는 또 한번의 동반 대장정. 두 사람이 오체투지의 고행을 통해 함께 외치는 무언의 목소리는 갈라진 마음과 흩어지는 몸들을 향한 자성의 촉구이다.
“독단과 독선으로 총체적 난국에 빠져 희망을 잃어가고 있는 시점에서, 우리 자신을 낮은 마음으로 돌아보고 시대의 아픔을 함께 나누는 길”이라고 두 사람은 출발 선언을 했다.
문규현 신부는 “민심이 천심임을 알게 하고, 하늘을 두려워하고 민의 앞에 겸손하게 하라.”는 기도와 함께 “생명의 귀함과 소중함을 선택하도록 하소서”라는 바람을 전했다.
매일 오체투지로 3∼5㎞를 걸어 11월1일쯤 계룡산 신원사에 도착할 예정. 내년에는 계룡산부터 임진각, 묘향산을 잇는 ‘평화 순례’도 함께 하기로 했다.
김성호 문화전문기자 kimus@seoul.co.kr
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http://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20080911023008
Name: Chenyang Wu
Title:Ad Boycott Campaign Legal or Not?
Exactly they have the right to make their voice heard by an boycott campaign. But what I concern is that is it really necessary for them doing in this way? I suppose what exist in their mind is the definite rightness of their actions, so they bring pressure on the newspaper with such a great boycott. But actually they might not be that right, because there still comes out different voices.
I'd like to see a more moral way of them to brigh out such kind of boycott, since what they boycotted were just the ads in articles about American beef, not the beef itself.
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Ad Boycott Campaign Legal or Not?
The government and Internet users are clashing over the latter's campaign to boycott companies running ads in conservative newspapers that are critical of the candlelit vigils against American beef imports.
Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han and prosecutors said Monday that the authorities will strengthen its monitoring of the campaign and take legal action against netizens acting illegally. While many accuse Kim of violating consumers or readers' rights, some defend him for protecting the media from ``groundless accusations.''
About 2,000 netizens visited the ministry and the prosecution's Web sites and said ``I come clean that I am the one who held the campaign. I cannot stand the papers. If this is a real crime, then come and put me in jail,'' or ``I have never participated in the vigil nor the boycott but the government made me realize it's time I do.''
The dispute started when groups of netizens launched a campaign to boycott the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-a Ilbo newspapers, the three biggest media outlets in the country. The three were also labeled as conservative papers that defend U.S. beef import resumption, and criticize the candlelit vigils as being controlled by communists or leftists.
The government announcement came after netizens held a campaign encouraging people to stop subscribing to the newspapers and pressurizing companies to stop running ads in the papers.
A Chosun Ilbo official complained some people threatened or swore at the marketing staff.
``Some said they would come and attack me or even harm my family if we keep our ads in the papers because it is such a dishonor,'' a staff member at a snack company said.
Tens of companies reportedly announced that they would indeed drop the advertising contract because they ``listen to consumers' voices.'' According to the Journalists Association of Korea, the number of large corporations' ads printed in the three papers dropped from 12-15 per issue to 2-4.
The dailies filed a complaint with the Broadcasting and Communications Commission and other government departments. The commission will determine whether the boycott campaign is legal or not. For its part, the ministry said Friday that it will do its best to stop ``illegal and violent'' behavior.
The ministry's move has drawn protest from netizens. Through Friday to Sunday, the number of people participating in the candlelit vigil against beef imports and President Lee Myung-bak jumped. Some online community members held up signs alleging the papers manipulated political and administrative power.
``They are the readers and consumers of the papers and the products; and it is their right to choose what they want to read and what not to ― advertisements are also part of the papers,'' the Korean Internet Journalists Association representative Lee June-hee said.
``If they do not like the paper then they should boycott the paper only; but intervening in the PR process of a company is a different issue,'' media critic Byun Hee-jae said.
The boycott is now moving in a new direction; netizens are promoting companies who gave up putting advertisements in the three. Samyang, food manufacturer, recently benefited from the boom, as many people are promoting the company's food rather than Nongshim, who refused to withdraw the ads.
On Friday, Samyang stock price rose by 14.95 percent while Nongshim showed a slight fall.
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http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/117_26363.html
1. name : So youn Kim
2. Title : Violence mars Mecxico's independence day celebration
3. I'm interested in these topics about the government and
guerillas(or protesters, demonstrators) against that government because in these cases, usually innocence citizens are suffered from that situation.(This article is included this casem too.)Figuring out the relations among the government, protesters and citizens is important because I believe that it belings to what we're going to learn from this class.
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MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- Eight people were killed and 101 were wounded in two explosions during a celebration of Mexico's independence day Monday night, a Mexican official said Tuesday.
Wounded people get help after blasts Monday night during an independence day event in Morelia, Mexico.
Two people remained in grave condition, said Roman Armando Luna Escalante, secretary of health in Michoacan state. Eleven of the wounded were children, Luna Escalante said. None of them are gravely injured.
The explosions occurred around 11 p.m. near the governor's residence in Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. The second blast happened shortly afterward a few blocks away.
Officials would not say if they have any suspects or if any group has claimed responsibility.
Some experts pointed to drug cartels or insurgents.
"It could be a warning to the federal government, which has put a lot of money and manpower to deal with drugs, which are very powerful there," said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank on Western Hemisphere affairs. "It could be leftist guerrilla groups that occasionally throw a bomb.
"The problem is that this is part of a real wave of violence that is consuming Mexico."
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Last week the bodies of 24 people, bound and shot execution-style, were found in Atlapulco, a town just south of Mexico City.
Those killings Friday came roughly two weeks after tens of thousands of Mexicans marched on the nation's capital, calling for greater government action against the wave of violent crime.
Non-governmental groups estimate there have been more than 1,500 killings in Mexico this year linked to organized crime.
In late August, Mexican President Felipe Calderon met with the country's 32 governors to develop a plan to battle the rise in violent crime.
Calderon, who was born in Morelia, condemned the attacks and said federal officials will redouble efforts to help state authorities investigate.
More than 1,500 soldiers and federal police were maintaining order Tuesday, which marks the 198th anniversary of what Mexicans regard as their independence day.
Festivities typically start the night before because on September 16, 1810, shortly before dawn, a priest in a village in the state of Guanajuato rang a church bell and called on Mexicans to fight for independence from Spain.
The celebration in Morelia on Monday night was one of hundreds nationwide to celebrate that call for independence, which Mexico formally achieved in 1821.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/16/mexico.explosions/index.html
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