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"Peace on earth would mean the end of civilization as we know it" -- Joseph Heller
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No Glass Darker
by teepee Monday, Oct 1 2007, 11:51am
international / injustice/law / commentary

When the Law and other state institutions fail the people it is always Art that comes to the rescue. The power inherent in Art is beyond estimation. When thousands of words fail to deliver, an image strikes its target with an accuracy that weapons-makers can only envy. The following image of the military crackdown in Burma needs no explanation; it spills over and continues to haunt via its stirring of the collective conscience. All unjust, criminal States are indicted by a few strokes of the brush and scratches of the pen.

Burma suppression
Burma suppression

The ‘Christian’ nation of America remains the number one arms dealer to the world followed by Russia and Britain. These nations continue to wage their imperial wars of acquisition around the globe but none more so than, ‘gonna take a trip to oblivion!’

In Australia – internationally renowned for racism and cowardice – the people/nation have failed to bring the known murderers of the 'Balibo five' to justice. Oz institutions and leaders have FAILED THE PEOPLE YET AGAIN, but dramatists/writers, David Williamson and Robert Connolly, have co-written a drama which is to star Anthony LaPaglia, to forever remind the nation through the medium of dramatic representation, what a bunch of chicken-shit, cringing, cowards we REALLY ARE – sing along with me, ‘Australians let us all get fucked for we are miserable cowards!’ Think about it for a second or two, Howard, Bush and Blair, were/are the perfect leaders of their respective nations.

I raise my glass, any excuse, and lift my keyboard to my semiotic ‘terrorist’ comrades in ART – the only blood we spill is symbolic! Never forget that real ART – as opposed to bourgeois commodification – is not an exclusive endeavour, kids take it to the streets daily.

A message for those in remote social spaces who would otherwise think themselves bereft of Art. Data entry and other digitised screen displays are canvasses; this especially applies to stock market displays and reports – Art is in the juxtaposition of sometimes incongruous symbols not necessarily with a view to accuracy!

Art is nothing if not e/affective! The human imagination knows no limitations; it is your/the gateway to personal and social freedom – see how they run!


Editorial postscript:
We pay tribute to the brave Buddhist monks of Burma who by adhering and living the precepts of their founder shame the (religious) hypocrites of the West. Fully cognisant of the consequences of their peaceful but defiant actions, thousands have given up their lives for the welfare and freedom of not only the Burmese people but for all oppressed people everywhere.

Information is slowly filtering out of Burma of the cold-blooded slaughter of Buddhist monks transported to the interior. Dissidents and army defectors who made it to the Thai border tell of the horror and barbarism of the military suppression.

According to unconfirmed reports the Burmese military not wishing to be seen violently putting down peaceful protesters, as was the case in ’88, developed a reprehensible, barbaric plan to end the protests. In the early hours they surrounded a number of monasteries and enclosed the compounds in barbed wire. Soldiers proceeded to apprehend peaceful monks, place them in military vehicles for transport to the jungle interior where they were all shot in cold blood and their bodies left to the animals. Rough estimates put the number of those executed at fifteen hundred to three thousand but its too early for definitive figures. Others who were not immediately executed have been imprisoned and are suffering tortures/interrogation as I write.

Today, the streets of the major cities, Yangon and Mandalay are eerily quiet; armed military patrol the streets and guard the monasteries. The peaceful revolution has been violently suppressed BUT freedom for the people is INEVITABLE. Thousands of young brave monks and civilians did not die in vain. The criminal military junta has sealed its fate; the cold-blooded murder of thousands of peaceful Buddhist monks is not only a heinous crime in Buddhist Asia but is an affront to ALL civilised people everywhere.

People around the globe wait for an appropriate response from the UN, other nations and religious leaders everywhere. The military junta of Burma has sent a clear message to the world. A message that no civilised nation or individual can ignore.

Anthony Lapaglia
Anthony Lapaglia

Smoke obscures the Golden Pagoda of Yangon
Smoke obscures the Golden Pagoda of Yangon


 
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