Our president is afraid of being seen in public shaking the hand of the Dalai Lama. Publicly acknowledging the Dalai Lama's cause would be type of change I hoped to see when I gave money to Obama's campaign.
Now I know a lot of my friends are going to be very happy about this; a new day has dawned, etc. Personally I found it inexplicable. And disturbing. And vaguely annoying.
I find it maddening how quickly the wolves came out. Similar to any policy move that will actually benefit Americans and our standing in the world, the right-wing goes ballistic.
What I love about a U2 concert, headlined by the Irish tenor with the sunglasses, is how it achieves such a powerful combination of art and social justice, music and message; and all with such fun.
In his speech at the United Nations last week, President Obama pledged that "America will live its values, and we will lead by example." If we are to believe him, he must stand up for the human rights of his fellow Americans.
The U.S. needs an "adult" group. A group who does good "stuff" but with a different mandate. The first and only criterion to get into this special group is that you tell the truth all the time.
As with everything U2 does, this show was big. Big stage. Big lights. Big sound. Big messages. But this show was played, for lack of a better term, in the round.
It's a crime against reality for us to carry on pretending that countries like Kazakhstan can hold fair trials.
US Sen Jim Webb recently traveled to Burma to lean not on Burma's military regime, but to pressure my country's democracy movement into giving up economic sanctions--the most important tool in our struggle for freedom.
The new officer corps emerging in Burma should know that they have a historic opportunity to save their country and restore Burma's place in the world.
Elegant is the first word that comes to mind. He was warm, with an IQ that kept you mentally running to keep up. He defied death, worked in the face of oppression and gave his all.
Town hall meetings on health care reform....Debate or Debacle? Media make sure squeakiest wheels get the grease.
In an ending we didn't have to take bets on, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sent back to the prison that is her own home. John Yettaw - the obviously mental...
Recent amnesties in Burma have been little more than public relations stunts. In September 2008, 9,000 prisoners were released, but only six of them were political activists.
The harder the junta tries to remove Suu Kyi from the scene, the more prominent she becomes in the eyes of the world.
By maintaining that the regime must be isolated and that Burma must be the target of stringent sanctions only helps the junta reverse further into mad "behind-the-wall" strategies.
China's deputy U.N. ambassador has made clear that Beijing, a major trading partner of Burma, would not use its influence to bring about any major change in the isolated southeast Asian nation.
When UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon meets the military dictatorship in Burma today he will have the whole world with him. His mission is critical to the future of the Burmese people.
With an agenda that asks the ruling military junta to open its doors to national "reconciliation", Ban Ki-moon is convinced he can persuade the country's leaders that reforms are for their own good.
We've been horrified by what's happening in Iran. This has been the status quo inside Burma for nearly two decades. What will it take for people to get outraged at this oppression?
The real question is who is responsible for the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's imprisonment? What can be done about it? What will anyone do?
