Stand up to Big Oil Interests in Burma!!

Hey all--

This Thanksgiving, please sign this petition put together by Avaaz.org calling for a boycott of Chevron, Total, and all other oil companies related to the Yadana Pipeline in Burma. Forward this on to your friends, relatives and associates.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_corporate/8.php/?cl=39355835

Doy-a-yay!

Action Against Total in the UK

See below for information from our friends at Total out of Burma:

TOTAL OUT OF BURMA DAY OF ACTION
Saturday 24 November 2007
Protest at TOTAL petrol stations around the UK

TOTAL OIL: FUELLING OPPRESSION IN BURMA
French oil company TOTAL is the fourth largest oil company in the world and Europe's largest investor in Burma. TOTAL is in a joint venture with Burma's dictatorship in the Yadana gas project in southern Burma, which earns the regime hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Since the violent crackdown against demonstrators in Burma in October, TOTAL has been lobbying the French government to keep oil and gas out of tighter EU sanctions against the regime. So far it has been successful.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's democracy leader, has said that "TOTAL is the biggest supporter of the military regime in Burma".

With the media's attention waning, TOTAL thinks it has weathered the storm of public outrage. Now is the time to show them it's only just beginning - join the TOTAL out of Burma Day of Action.

Tell us you're interested: totaloutofburma@gmail.com
See what's been happening and what's planned: http://www.totaloutofburma.blogspot.com

HOW TO JOIN THE DAY OF ACTION There are two ways to take part in the day of action:

1. Join a garage protest. Email your name and location to totaloutofburma@gmail.com or call 07939 975 085 and we'll try to match you with a local protest (previous protests have already occurred in Bradford, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Oxford & St Albans). As protests are confirmed we'll add them to the blog: http://www.totaloutofburma.blogspot.com.
2. Organise your own action - there are several hundred TOTAL petrol stations in the UK to choose from. Follow these three easy steps:
a. Find your local TOTAL garage using the handy Service Station Finder at http://www.total.co.uk or check the google map of UK TOTAL garages being created at http://tinyurl.com/2ftvdf.
b. Get some simple visual materials together, plus some leaflets or petitions, and publicise it to your friends, contacts and local press. If you want the details listed publicly (e.g. on the blog) email them to totaloutofburma@gmail.com or call Paul on 07939 975 085.
c. Hold the protest! Take some pictures, post a report on Indymedia.org.uk and send the link to totaloutofburma@gmail.com. Plus write to TOTAL's head office telling them what you've been up to.

Basic placard designs, petitions, leaflets and a model press release are downloadable from: http://www.totaloutofburma.blogspot.com.

Burma Human Rights event tomorrow

The Human Rights Situation
in Burma
History, Politics, and International Support

Guest Speaker Aung Din, Policy Director and
Co-Founder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma

Tuesday, November 13
12:00-1:20pm
WCL Room 528
Lunch will be served

Aung Din served over four years behind bars as a political prisoner in Burma after organizing and helping to lead the country’s nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988 as Vice Chairperson of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), the largest national student organization and outlawed by the regime.

Sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) and the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

Protest Total in Burma WED Nov. 7th

From our friends at Total Protester:

Protest Total in Burma
Wednesday, November 7th 2007 8:00AM - 6:00PM EST.

Join now in our TOTAL PROTEST through FAX and PHONE and EMAIL

Burma Global Action Network is holding a protest of Total through faxes and phone calls on Wednesday, November 7th, during the release of Total’s third quarter earnings. Total Corp. holds a 31.2% share in the Yadana natural gas project. According to theBurma Global Action Network, Total pays large sums in gas royalties to the current military junta. Protesters are demanding that the corporation place these royalties in escrow for the legitimate elected government of Burma, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. These funds are allegedly being pocketed by the military leaders.

In addition to the escrow, protesters will also be asking Total to increase contributions to humanitarian efforts in Burma through accredited non-government organizations.

Calls and faxes to the U.S. Headquarters office in New Jersey will be placed from 8 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time).

If you have more questions please email totalprotester@gmail.com.
ORVisit our Facebook group: http://oberlin.facebook.com
Youtube Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bwPNxy9YB9E

Callers are being advised to speak to a live person within Investor Relations to register their concern, protesting Total’s activity in Burma and asking that they put the royalty money in escrow for the elected government of Burma or sell their stake in the Yadana project.Below is the contact info for each Total office throughout the world.

Investor Relations North America
Total American Services, Inc.
100 Pavonia Avenue, Suite 401
Jersey City, N.J. 07310USA
Tel.: +1 201 626 3500
Fax: +1 201 626 4004

Total Headquarters
2, place de la Coupole
La Défense 692078 Paris
La Défense Cedex
France
Tel.: + 33 (0) 1 47 44 45 46

Investor Relations France
Total
Direction de la Communication Financière/Investor Relations
2, place de la Coupole
La Défense 692078 Paris
La Défense Cedex
France
Tel.: +33 (0)1 47 44 58 53
Fax: +33 (0)1 47 44 58 24

Panty Power update!!

IT'S TIME FOR PANTY POWER IN DC!

We are getting together tomorrow (Tuesday November 6) to pack and send our panties to the Burmese military generals. We will write notes on them, and then have them boxed and Fedexed for delivery to the BurmeseEmbassy on Friday November 9. (see below for info onthe global action)

Time: 8:15 pm-9:15 pm
Location: Georgetown University, New North 311http://explore.georgetown.edu/locations/index.cfm?Action=View&LocationID=26

Please bring friends and female undies. Our goal is to have about 200 panties. So we are asking each one of your to to bring about 5 to 10. THE MORE THE BETTER!

If you can come, send us an email.
Nyo Nyo(nyosquared@yahoo.com)
Hnin Hnin (h2pyne@yahoo.com)
Alex ( alex_ergo@hotmail.com)

Don't forget to check out the Panties for Peace game:http://readyaimvote.com/pantiesforpeace/readyaimvote.swf

Upcoming Event at Woodrow Wilson Center

What Next? Political Developments in Burma and Implications for the Future

November 07 2007, 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Event Details:

Aung Din, policy director, U.S. Campaign for Burma

Ingrid Jordt, assistant professor of anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Priscilla Clapp, former U.S. charge d'affaires in Burma

What lies ahead for Burma?

This program will examine recent events in the country and their potential impact on the political opposition and the pro-democracy movement; on relations between monks and the military; and on prospects for transition toward democracy in Burma.

AUNG DIN is policy director and cofounder of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy and activist group promoting human rights, freedom, and democracy in Burma. He is also country representative for the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPP), which is based on the Thai-Burma border. He was jailed as a political prisoner for more than four years after organizing and helping lead Burma’s pro-democracy uprising in 1988. At the time, he was serving as vice chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), which was then the country’s largest national student organization.

INGRID JORDT is assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research interests include processes of political legitimation and lay/monastic relations in Buddhist Burma, and she has conducted research in the country since 1988. Dr. Jordt, who has lived as a Buddhist nun in Burma, has written widely on religion and political legitimacy in Burma. In her new book, Burma’s Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power, she describes transformations in Buddhism and the consequences these have had for Burma’s military and how it governs.

PRISCILLA CLAPP is a retired U.S. diplomat. Her 30-year career in public service includes a stint as U.S. charge d’affaires in Burma from 1999 to 2002. Additionally, she has worked on the U.S. State Department’s policy planning staff and with State’s East Asian and political-military bureaus. In addition to her government service, Ms. Clapp has held positions with the Brookings Institution and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies. In July 2007, the U.S. Institute of Peace published her working paper, Building Democracy in Burma, which has since been updated (and will soon be republished) to reflect recent events.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=events.event_summary&event_id=293446

Candlelit Vigil tomorrow night

Dear All,

There will be a Candle Light Vigil in Frederick Community College to support and pray for the freedom of Burma on November 2, 2007 at 7:00 -> 8:00 P.M. There will be a short speech about the present situation of our homeland on that day.

Please spread the word and come to support. Your present will be highly meaningful.