Valley Forge, Amish, Buddhist Monks in Burma

From Philadelphia, Lauren and I drove to Valley Forge where we visited the Center and drove around the National Park. The site is where George Washington's army camped from the Winter of 1777-1778. Some 2,000 cabins were built, and Washington had his headquarters there. The early part of their stay there was desperate and around 50% of the men abandoned camp (from 12,000 to 6,000). Then there were several things that happened. The Prussian Von Steuben joined Washington's army; Von Steuben trained 100 men military tactics and these men in turned trained others. The other important thing that happened was that France sided with America, which turned the tide of the war. The British had also done a couple of things that weakened their side: they decided to focus on saving their Caribbean colonies; and they withdrew from Philadelphia.

The Valley itself is beautiful, green, lush, although in 1777, the trees had been cut and the forest denuded.

What I understood, which was a new idea to me, was that the Americans were at this point quite organized. I always had the idea that they were a ragtag guerrilla group, but they were more sophisticated than that.

On the way to Gettysburg, we drove through the Lancaster area where we saw quite a lot of Amish people in their horse and buggy, or biking or working in their fields. The farm restaurant where we had lunch had a magnificent view of some farms where a couple of Amish farmers were working. There was something reassuring watching them with their teams of 4 horses as they cleared their land; perhaps it's their simplicity, their closeness to the earth that gives me that feeling. The Amish, Quakers, Buddhist monks - they seem to me to be people of God (I am generalizing of course).



The farms the Amish have are huge and they have silos and barns, giving the impression that they are well-off financially, although they are very low-key and keep to themselves. The Mennonites are the ones who have more contact with the tourists; they run shops, stores, and use machines, unlike the Amish.

Now here's an interesting sight: Amish barn-raising with the use of the crane - yes, we saw this. But there was a chance this was a Mennonite barn-raising, and Mennonites use machinery.

AND NOW another update about the Buddhist monks in Burma, this news from the BBC and USA Today. Can such tyranny continue?

"• The BBC reports that about 4,000 Burmese monks detained during pro-democracy demonstrations will be shipped from Rangoon to prisons in the north. For now they are being held at a race course and a technical college, according to sources from a government-sponsored militia. They spoke with BBC radio's Burmese service.

The monks have been disrobed and shackled, the sources said, and the monks reportedly are refusing to eat.

• There is recent news that Buddhist monks are trying to leave Rangoon, and have been seen in railway and bus stations. Bus drivers have reportedly been refusing to take them for fear they will be refused petrol.
. Curfews and night time raids continue in Rangoon, and there is a climate of fear as well as anger there. The Monks are still refusing to accept alms from the military; many are on a hunger strike; the detained monks are refusing to change out of their traditional robes. Meanwhile, there are reports of people taking turns to guard monasteries against night time raids."

PETITION ON BURMA

Terrible news about Burma continues. The Buddhist monks in prisons are staging protests by refusing to eat. More reports are popping up about the numerous monks killed. Here's a petition that came from a Philippine source:


From: "Ricken Patel - Avaaz.org"
Date: October 1, 2007 9:49:40 AM GMT+08:00
To: "herbert@focusweb.org"
Subject: Burma: A Global Roar

Dear friends,

Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php

The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

_____________________________________

MASSACRE OF BUDDHIST MONKS IN BURMA

Very, very disturbing news from Australia's Herald Sun about Burma or Myanmar - here quoted:

"October 02, 2007 12:00am
A SENIOR Burmese intelligence official claims thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle.

After defecting from the military junta and fleeing to the Thai border, Hla Win told a reporter from London's Daily Mail: "Many more people have been killed in recent days than you've heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand."

The horrific details emerged as Burma's top general continued to snub the UN's peace envoy, who is in Rangoon on a mission to convey the world's outrage to the junta.

With protests quashed and many monasteries empty, fears are growing for those who have disappeared into Burma's grim jails.

Observers say many detainees have been taken to the city's notorious Insein prison, the Government Technological Institute, the police battalion number seven compound, the Kyaikkasan racetrack and possibly elsewhere.

Mr Win said he fled when he was ordered to help massacre holy men.

Other exiles along the frontier confirmed that hundreds of monks had simply "disappeared".

Pro-democracy campaigners inside Burma yesterday released a graphic video showing the semi-naked body of a badly bruised monk, floating face down in a Rangoon river.

Mr Win, 42, a former chief of military intelligence in Rangoon's northern region, said: "I decided to desert when I was ordered to raid two monasteries and force several hundred monks on to trucks.

"They were to be killed and their bodies dumped deep inside the jungle. I refused to participate in this," he said.

Dissidents hiding along the Burma border said thousands of monks had been locked up and were being beaten inside blood stained temples."

Above Photo of Dead Monk, courtesy of Democratic Voice of Burma and BBC