Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated peaceful nonviolence to change ailing social systems. They and their followers were able to successfully change the social conditions of their times. Recently, a lawyer in China named Gao Shizheng has called for symbolic ongoing hunger strikes across China to support people who have encountered violence and ongoing persecution perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party which currently rules China.
For over six years now, since July of 1999, the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners have used nonviolent actions to draw world attention to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party. If past history is any indication, the Falun Gong practitioners and human rights advocates such as Gao Shizheng will be successful in the long run.
The Chinese Communist Party is a large stumbling block to overcome. They are unwilling to admit that human rights violations are occurring in China. Fortunately, the world knows better thanks to groups like the Falun Gong practitioners, Amnesty International, Freedom House and even the United Nations Special Rappateur on Human Rights.
One can find all kinds of evidence including testimonials, video footage, and other documentation to prove the gross human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. In addition, the very existence of a labor camp system in China demonstrates the systematic nature of the human rights violations.
Virtually everyone in the world knows what is going on, yet China continues to deny the facts. One is reminded of the many murderers throughout history that have committed terrible crimes and yet proclaimed their innocence. They are met with justice. But these are individuals in society and here we are talking about a large group of people, the Chinese Communist Party, acting in unison to perpetrate, hide and then deny their abuses. It is harder to bring an entire group to justice or convince them to change their behavior.
The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) numbers around 60 million people. That is sixty million individuals that are willing to deny in tandem any wrongdoing. It is similar to sixty million criminals all proclaiming their innocence together at the same time.
In Nazi Germany you had a smaller group of people who were able to plunge the entire world into war and commit horrible human rights violations. It could be said that they were an organized group of thugs similar but perhaps not as vicious as the Chinese Communist Party operating in China today. In fact the Chinese Communist Party is responsible for far more deaths over the decades than the Nazis were in their day.
The Nazis are gone but the Chinese Communist Party is still operating, still grossly violating human rights and still denying their own bad deeds at every turn. How long can something like this go on? It could go on for a much longer period of time, if people don't stand up and speak out against the atrocities.
Staying in tune with the nonviolent means of achieving social change in history, it becomes the duty of every individual in the world to speak about the atrocities. As much and as often as the CCP denies human rights violations every person should speak out about them. With many more voices ringing with truth to counter the lies of the CCP, ending the human rights violations is an inevitable conclusion. However, it is a conclusion that must come sooner rather than later because people are suffering.
To learn more about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China visit the FalunInfo or the Clearwisdom websites for additional information. A simple action that you can take today to help in the spirit of nonviolence is to call the nearest Chinese Embassy and say, "Stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Stop the human rights violations."
Change is inevitable. As an individual you have the ability to help bring an end to the atrocities sooner rather than later.
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Kamis, 12 April 2012
Rabu, 29 Juni 2011
The Passing of Liu Zhirong
Liu Zhirong was a 42-year-old schoolteacher at Tuanjie Elementary School in the Xifeng District of Qingyang City in China. He practiced meditation and aspired to embrace and manifest truthfulness, compassion and tolerance in his daily life. His life was brought to an end prematurely by those who did not have the same lofty ideals to guide them.
Zhirong enjoyed the practice of Falun Gong. For more than six years, the Chinese Communist Party has embarked on a campaign to eliminate this peaceful meditation practice and Zhirong was a victim of the CCP's goal.
It is claimed that he was tortured to death in the Tianshui City No 3 Prison on or around January 14th 2006 in Prison Ward number 1. The address of the prison is No 196 Jianshe Road, Tianshui City, Gansu Province. The phone number there is 86-938-8278849.
What was Zhirong doing in prison? In most countries around the world, elementary school teachers are not imprisoned for meditation. Things are a little different under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Stories such as Zhirong's are not at all uncommon.
The Clearwisdom website records these abuses. They have documented over 2800 deaths like Liu Zhirong's since 1999. Other organizations have also documented this ongoing persecution. The methods of torture utilized include so many different varieties that it is difficult to remember them all.
Records indicate that the CCP also persecutes a wide range of groups and individuals. Christians and Tibetan Buddhists as well as those who support various freedoms are among the Party's victims.
One may question why the Chinese Communist Party engages in or permits torture. It is hoped that the reader recognizes that there is no rational justification for torture and even less so in the case of peaceful, non-violent meditators like Zhirong.
Why all this violence? Why all this hatred? Sadly, the Chinese Communist Party has been a brutal entity since its very beginning. History has documented the millions of Chinese people that the CCP has killed since it took power decades ago. The tally far exceeds the number of people killed by Adolf Hitler.
Why is it that much of the world, despite the excellent documentation, continually fails to recognize this as a major problem? Is it the lure of big business? Is it that China seems too far away to make a difference to us? Hasn't history adequately demonstrated that what we ignore ends up on our back porch sooner or later?
Whatever the reason, we must not turn a blind eye and sit idly while innocent men, women and children are brutalized by the Chinese Communist Party for practicing meditation or having a belief. Each of us can stand up and provide a voice for those who have been silenced by the CCP.
Shining the international spotlight on the atrocities may help to reduce them. Writing letters and raising awareness are an important beginning.
Zhirong enjoyed the practice of Falun Gong. For more than six years, the Chinese Communist Party has embarked on a campaign to eliminate this peaceful meditation practice and Zhirong was a victim of the CCP's goal.
It is claimed that he was tortured to death in the Tianshui City No 3 Prison on or around January 14th 2006 in Prison Ward number 1. The address of the prison is No 196 Jianshe Road, Tianshui City, Gansu Province. The phone number there is 86-938-8278849.
What was Zhirong doing in prison? In most countries around the world, elementary school teachers are not imprisoned for meditation. Things are a little different under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. Stories such as Zhirong's are not at all uncommon.
The Clearwisdom website records these abuses. They have documented over 2800 deaths like Liu Zhirong's since 1999. Other organizations have also documented this ongoing persecution. The methods of torture utilized include so many different varieties that it is difficult to remember them all.
Records indicate that the CCP also persecutes a wide range of groups and individuals. Christians and Tibetan Buddhists as well as those who support various freedoms are among the Party's victims.
One may question why the Chinese Communist Party engages in or permits torture. It is hoped that the reader recognizes that there is no rational justification for torture and even less so in the case of peaceful, non-violent meditators like Zhirong.
Why all this violence? Why all this hatred? Sadly, the Chinese Communist Party has been a brutal entity since its very beginning. History has documented the millions of Chinese people that the CCP has killed since it took power decades ago. The tally far exceeds the number of people killed by Adolf Hitler.
Why is it that much of the world, despite the excellent documentation, continually fails to recognize this as a major problem? Is it the lure of big business? Is it that China seems too far away to make a difference to us? Hasn't history adequately demonstrated that what we ignore ends up on our back porch sooner or later?
Whatever the reason, we must not turn a blind eye and sit idly while innocent men, women and children are brutalized by the Chinese Communist Party for practicing meditation or having a belief. Each of us can stand up and provide a voice for those who have been silenced by the CCP.
Shining the international spotlight on the atrocities may help to reduce them. Writing letters and raising awareness are an important beginning.
Senin, 24 Januari 2011
Hydropower As A Major Player In The Energy Game
Hydropower has been a slumbering giant in the energy game. Since the 1960s, its use has actually gone down compared to other energy sources. This is beginning to change.
Hydropower As A Major Player In The Energy Game
Hydropower is the massive production of electricity through the conversion of kinetic energy in water into electricity. This is typically undertaken in the form of a dam on a river. Water is held back by the dam and then fed in a controlled manner through it. On its way, the water spins turbines that crank generators and produce electricity. Famous projects include Hoover Dam in the United States, Nasser Dam in Egypt and the new Three Gorges Dam in China.
The primary question with hydropower is why we do not use it more. In some countries, such as Norway, it is the primary source of energy production. It is popular because it is a clean energy platform that produces no emissions, pollution, heat or fuel consumption. As long as the river runs, the hydropower plant should function. In places like Africa, this has not always been a sure thing.
Compared to other energy platforms, hydropower is very efficient. Energy conversion rates are in the 80 to 90 percent range. The plants also have a long life as you can see with any dam, and maintenance costs are relatively low. Cost of energy production, thus, is lower or on par with other energy platforms including oil.
While hydropower seems like a slam dunk option as an energy platform, there are a few definite negatives. The initial cost of building a hydropower dam can be very large. Hundreds of millions of dollars can be required. Larger projects such as the Three Gorges dam run into the billions. These figures are staggering for smaller countries and even give pause to most first world ones. With the rising costs of fossil fuels, however, this is becoming less of an issue each and every day.
The other area that causes concern with hydropower dams is the environmental and human impact. Damming a river is no easy task and the impact is massive. To effectively work, a hydropower dam will reduce the flow of water to such an extent that tens if not hundreds of miles of land behind it will be submerged. In the case of the Three Gorges Dam, this led to the removal of entire cities, monasteries and massive changes to the landscape. There is no disputing this negative issue, but localized changes seem minor compared to the global impact of fossil fuel use.
There is not much glamour to hydropower, but it does represent one of the cleanest and efficient energy platforms available to us.
Hydropower As A Major Player In The Energy Game
Hydropower is the massive production of electricity through the conversion of kinetic energy in water into electricity. This is typically undertaken in the form of a dam on a river. Water is held back by the dam and then fed in a controlled manner through it. On its way, the water spins turbines that crank generators and produce electricity. Famous projects include Hoover Dam in the United States, Nasser Dam in Egypt and the new Three Gorges Dam in China.
The primary question with hydropower is why we do not use it more. In some countries, such as Norway, it is the primary source of energy production. It is popular because it is a clean energy platform that produces no emissions, pollution, heat or fuel consumption. As long as the river runs, the hydropower plant should function. In places like Africa, this has not always been a sure thing.
Compared to other energy platforms, hydropower is very efficient. Energy conversion rates are in the 80 to 90 percent range. The plants also have a long life as you can see with any dam, and maintenance costs are relatively low. Cost of energy production, thus, is lower or on par with other energy platforms including oil.
While hydropower seems like a slam dunk option as an energy platform, there are a few definite negatives. The initial cost of building a hydropower dam can be very large. Hundreds of millions of dollars can be required. Larger projects such as the Three Gorges dam run into the billions. These figures are staggering for smaller countries and even give pause to most first world ones. With the rising costs of fossil fuels, however, this is becoming less of an issue each and every day.
The other area that causes concern with hydropower dams is the environmental and human impact. Damming a river is no easy task and the impact is massive. To effectively work, a hydropower dam will reduce the flow of water to such an extent that tens if not hundreds of miles of land behind it will be submerged. In the case of the Three Gorges Dam, this led to the removal of entire cities, monasteries and massive changes to the landscape. There is no disputing this negative issue, but localized changes seem minor compared to the global impact of fossil fuel use.
There is not much glamour to hydropower, but it does represent one of the cleanest and efficient energy platforms available to us.
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