WikiRebels - The Documentary

From YouTube:

“Exclusive rough-cut of first in-depth documentary on WikiLeaks and the people behind it!

From summer 2010 until now, Swedish Television has been following the secretive media network WikiLeaks and its enigmatic Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange.

Reporters Jesper Huor and Bosse Lindquist have traveled to key countries where WikiLeaks operates, interviewing top members, such as Assange, new Spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson, as well as people like Daniel Domscheit-Berg who now is starting his own version – Openleaks.org!

Where is the secretive organization heading? Stronger than ever, or broken by the US? Who is Assange: champion of freedom, spy or rapist? What are his objectives? What are the consequences for the internet?”

Just Do It - The Movie

Interesting stuff:

Just Do It is an exciting new feature documentary film that follows the mischievous and risky world of UK climate activists.

In early 2009, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Emily James began filming the clandestine activities of several groups of environmental civil disobedient activists in the UK. Allowed unprecedented access, her footage shows us the people behind the politics, providing the often overlooked human element to their story as we watch them take on the combined forces of global capitalism, run-away climate change and those pesky metropolitan police!

Their adventures will entertain, illuminate and inspire, whilst inciting you to get off your arse and change the world.

Currently in post-production and set for release in early 2011, Just Do It is a film pushing boundaries. It is an experiment in crowd-funding, group production and community-engaged documentary filmmaking. Read on to find out more…

The Bettany Blog's 100th post is...

...about Burma again. However interest in the country doesn't stop at Shwekey, or a visit, an orphanage project or even a dissertation! Genuine concern for the people living there is a blessing and even today as news reaches us, Churches are being closed down by the Government. An email from a trusted friend, guide and translator reports that The Dai Church in Yangon has been closed by local officials. A church, that Dad and me visited during our trip in Feb/March(see picture).

I found this commentary by Neil Campbell, the EU Advocacy Manager of the International Crisis Group interesting in relation to the best ways to help Burma today. It is helpful in re-contextualising current international policy on Burma.

"Missing the Boat on Myanmar",
Neil Campbell in European Voice
By Neil Campbell
24 April 2009
European Voice

The EU should abandon a policy maintained by those with an eye on noble points rather than on new opportunities to promote change.

At next week's meeting of EU foreign minsters in Luxembourg, the EU will extend, for another year, policies on Myanmar that are widely recognised as ineffective.

There is no doubt that General Than Shwe and his repressive regime are the main culprits for the misery of the population. But in dealing with the country, the international community has to do more than simply rubber-stamp restrictive aid policies that are not showing results, neither promoting political change nor alleviating the impoverishment of the people.

The aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, which struck Myanmar last May, demonstrated that another option is available. The government - though initially an obstacle to relief efforts - eventually showed itself willing to address specific obstacles to aid delivery. Structures were put in place (mainly with ASEAN nations) to facilitate effective and transparent assistance.

This has not translated into improved behaviour by the regime in general, of course, but in the limited sphere of humanitarian operations, it shows that it is possible to effectively work alongside the government. The EU must recognise this precedent as an opportunity.

Driving with the rear-view mirror
While Europe has shown some flexibility in its approach - by allowing the possibility of humanitarian assistance since 2004, while making good use of targeted sanctions for naming and shaming the junta - its policy remains in the hands of those who would rather make a noble point than help improve socio-economic conditions on the ground.

EU policy is currently driven through rear-view mirrors, looking back to 1990. Yes, there have been good initiatives by the European Commission on the security of livelihoods and food supplies, education and health (such as the Three Diseases Fund to counter TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS). But these remain negligible in scale. The indicative budget for Commission assistance to Myanmar for the period 2007-2013 was only €65 million. There is additional assistance in others projects and member-state initiatives, but assistance is barely making a dent on the extreme poverty.

An already disastrous economic crisis is being aggravated by the effects of the global economic crisis filter downwards. Poverty levels are extreme and the response inadequate: 90% of the population lives on less than $0.65 cents a day (€0.49). In neighbouring Laos the amount of external assistance per capita is around $30 (€23) a year; in Cambodia it is $50 (€38). The equivalent for Myanmar is $2.70 (€2.05) a year - a figure roughly comparable to what each European cow is worth per day in subsidies.

This is not just about getting assistance to those that need it. The EU has yet to take full advantage of the potential for de-politicising humanitarian and development assistance to the country. This presents the best opportunity to promote change in Myanmar.

The "Common Position" of the EU allows room for manoeuvre on assistance, but without a clear definition of how far that assistance can go, the Commission will be hobbled by a lurking political cloud over anything that could be deemed as "engagement".

Driving with a view of the long road ahead
Political restrictions on humanitarian and development aid should stop. The international financial institutions should be allowed to re-engage, focusing on policy dialogue, technical assistance and capacity building, since direct budgetary assistance and major project financing is not yet appropriate. Aid should be used in new ways: aiming at substantially raising income and educational levels, fostering civil society, improving economic policy and governance, promoting equality of ethnic minorities, and improving disaster preparation. The result will eventually be a loosening of the military's stranglehold on the economy, and could even result in improved governance and empowerment of non-state actors - exactly what the sanctions regime has been failing to achieve.

This may sound too good to be true, but once aid programmes gather momentum through interaction with local and international organisations on the ground, they also open the door for further efforts in wider humanitarian and development assistance. It is not a process that happens overnight, but it is the only option that will provide incremental improvements - significantly more than 20 years of failed isolation.

The aftermath of Cyclone Nargis revealed an opportunity to the international donor community. It would be a shame to squander it.

Burning World

Saw this in the economist...and quite liked it. Especially as the hand over takes place this year.

Shoe thrown at Bush on Iraq visit

This was a bit of a shocker! But is it really a shock?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7782774.stm

See full article from here!

Goodbye Bush, hello Obama!

Message from Avaaz:

After 8 long years of Bush – finally a fresh start!

Obama's victory brings a chance for the US to finally join with the world community to take on pressing challenges on climate change, human rights, and peace.

After years, even decades of distrust, let's seize this moment of unity, reconciliation and hope to send a message of warm congratulations and invitation to work together to the new President and the American people.

We've built a huge wall near the White House in Washington DC where the number of signatures on our message and personal messages from around the world will grow over the next several hours. We've also asked Obama to personally receive our petition from a group of Avaaz members. Let's get to 1 million signers and messages to Obama! Sign on at the link below and forward this email to others:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/million_messages_to_obama

This is a time for celebration of democracy, but already the sharks are starting to circle – oil companies, war contractors, conservative lobbyists, and the powerful neo-con clique that brought us the war in Iraq are looking for ways to dim the prospects for change. Obama has promised national unity, and these interests will ask a high price for that unity.

Let's act quickly to make sure the people of the world are heard as Obama makes crucial choices in the coming days on how to live up to his campaign promises to secure a strong global treaty on climate change, ban torture and close Guantanamo prison, withdraw carefully from Iraq, and double aid to make global poverty history. Rarely has a US President been more likely to listen to us.

We'll make the point that on most of the pressing issues faced by Obama and the American people – from the financial crisis to climate change -- we need to work together as one world to achieve change