Gardner to be deported???

Immigration Officials Visit Fiji Times Publisher

Publish date/time: 26/01/2009 [19:25] It is understood that the Fiji Times Publisher Rex Gardener will be deported tomorrow. Reliable sources informed Fijivillage news that immigration officials are having discussions with Gardener who will be deported tomorrow. Our reporter who is currently outside the Fiji Times office confirmed that immigration officials are currently speaking to gardener.

When a self-appointed leader looks foolish!

This report carries this fact "Bainimarama had on Tuesday called for the meeting to be deferred, saying he would not attend because he needed to lead relief work after recent devastating floods in Fiji that killed at least 11 people.

Ok.. this is where real leaders differ from self-appointed ones. Real leaders know how to delegate duties when they are really needed to serve the best interests of their people like attending a much-awaited-for meeting of leaders. Self-appointed ones on the other hand, keep coming up with excuses when they are required to face the music. Here is a classic example of cowardice behaviour at the highest order.

The relief work is going to take years. This meeting is only for a couple of days!


Forum on Fiji's future to go ahead Saturday, 24 January 2009

A special Pacific Islands Forum meeting to discuss the fate of Fiji's membership is going ahead.

Prime Minister John Key will attend the meeting in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, convened to discuss whether to suspend or impose sanctions on Fiji over self-appointed Prime Minister Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama's failure to take steps towards reinstating democracy.

Suspension would be a first for the forum's 16 member states.

Late yesterday, the Australian and PNG governments said the meeting had been postponed.

Bainimarama had on Tuesday called for the meeting to be deferred, saying he would not attend because he needed to lead relief work after recent devastating floods in Fiji that killed at least 11 people.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would not be travelling to Port Moresby next week, a spokeswoman said.

But NZPA understands the meeting is going ahead after numerous phonecalls between forum members.

A spokesman for Mr Key told NZPA he would be leaving for PNG on Monday afternoon as planned.

Up to six leaders are flying to PNG on a New Zealand air force Boeing, and those not already in Auckland ready for departure are on their way.

-NZPA

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4828707a12.html

When will our hour of triumph arrive Fiji?

New birth of freedom

Senator Dianne Feinstein's opening speech, at the inaugural ceremony for the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama was eloquently delivered and inspiring. Something we believe should remind us of how and why the ideals of democracy should be valued, pursued and upheld. She said,

"The world is watching today as our great democracy engages in this peaceful transition of power. Here on the national mall where we remember the founders of our nation and those who fought to make it free, we gather to etch another line in the solid stone of history.

The freedom of a people to choose its leaders is the root of liberty.

In a world where political strife is too often settled with violence, we come here every four years to bestow the power of the Presidency upon our democratically elected leader.

Those who doubt the supremacy of the ballot over the bullet can never diminish the power engendered by non-violent struggles for justice and equality, like the one that made this day possible. No triumph tainted by brutality could ever match the sweet victory of this hour and what it means for those who marched and died to make it a reality.

Our work is not yet finished but future generations will mark this morning as a turning point for real and neccessary change in our nation. They will look back and remember that this was the moment when the dream that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial finally reached the walls of the White House. In that spirit, we today not only inaugurate a new administration, we pledge ourselves to the hope, the vision, the unity, and the renewed call to greatness, inspired by the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

New military recruits - do we need them?

Ok...maybe our youth need employment but in this day and age should we still accept our militarymen to only have a minimal qualification of Form Four? No wonder, our current militarymen cannot think for themselves, if this is the minimal schooling level expected to join the Fijian army.

What about the no criminal record? What is Frances Kean doing back in the top naval hierachy then? A convicted murderer!

Military defends plan for more recruits

1/18/2009 - from Fiji Sun
The military has defended their advertisements that seek more recruits.

In response to Fiji Sun’s editorial comment yesterday military spokesman Major Neumi Leweni said the editorial was biased and politically-motivated.

The editorial questioned the necessity of recruitment of more military personnel at a time when the country was in the middle of a natural disaster and most citizens were suffering.

Major Leweni said there were plans already in place for how the effects of the disaster would be addressed.

“While we all sympathise and feel for the victims of the natural disaster there are mechanisms in place to cater for their needs,’’ he said.

“It does not mean that the other aspects of the machinery of government stops, patients in hospitals need to be attended to, police still need to maintain law and order and likewise the military still needs to replenish its troops on peacekeeping missions, replacing retirees and replacing trade training school graduates of the RFMF Engineers whom you will soon witness to be an integral part of the rehabilitating process for the flood victims in a few days time.”

He added the recruitment was to address the unemployment problems in the country.

“Last but not least the recruitment is providing employment for the youths of Fiji which is government’s responsibility. It is about time the Fiji Sun refocus and redirect its efforts on issues that really counts rather than being driven by its political masters,” he said. The military put out an advertisement in the print media seeking for applications for the territorial forces, officer cadet training, military band and for their trade training school.

Some of the requirements are that applicants should have at least a Form Four pass and no criminal record.

Fiji SUN editor in chief Samisoni Kakaivalu said the newspaper stood by the editorial comment.

Change coming in 2009!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, BLOGGERS!

To be heard – Cash a Check!

Amazing how little snippets of our lives can rekindle memories or give sparks to ideas.

An episode of The Cosby Show did just that for me yesterday.

In this certain episode, Theo Huxtable (Bill Cosby's son in the show) was writing an essay on "The March." His first attempt earned him a C. But lucky for him, on that evening while sharing his second attempt, his own family, grandparents and parents, who were there on that day, became living, primary sources of first-hand information he needed. If you're not sure what I am talking about here, Theo is referring to the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. This was also the venue where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to some 250, 000 people, about a quarter of them white. But before he even embarked on his "I Have a Dream" speech, he gave these remarks, which always seem to be an after-thought to his "I Have a Dream" sentiments, but I do believe have such a wonderful meaning/significance regarding our struggle to regain our freedom.

He said he was there to "cash a check" for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," while warning fellow protesters not to "allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence."

2009 is upon us. It has been two years since we have been under military rule. We are vowing to make 2009 the last year Voreqe Bainimarama and his regime will drag us further down to the abyss of national destruction. To this end, the idea of smart sanctions has been mooted.

We have blogged, talked, exchanged heated words, wrote…fellow citizens have been tortured and some murdered in the hands of Voreqe's security forces…jobs have been lost…our children struggle to have an education/food and some raped…certain expats have been deported for bogus reasons given by the regime…Vilisi demonstrated on his lonesome…but what has changed? SADLY NOTHING MUCH!

So, what are we going to actively do NON-VIOLENTLY in 2009 to bring this regime to its knees!?

Going back to The March, there were opposition to it, from President Kennedy, to the Ku Klux Klan to Malcolm X. But President Kennedy had to give in because the organisers were not going to back out. Much of the fear and opposition surfaced because people thought that the march would turn violent. But this became a non-issue and heavy police presence was unnecessary as the march was noted for its civility and peacefulness.

They came in droves from the four corners of America, holding hands, singing, sharing and the part I liked the most…wearing badges to show which part of America they're from. In this Cosby episode, the humour of it was played on Bill Cosby when his wife mocked him for collecting and wearing as many badges as he can. They say, Kiss Me I'm Irish! Kiss Me I'm Jewish! Kiss me I'm Japanese!....(hahahaha)...yes, we do need some humour in our lives to break the cycle of doom and gloom! Pity he didn't have one that said… Kiss Me I'm Fijian!

But now, back to our cause – to regain our freedom! Our liberty! Our lives! Our Happiness!

Eight organisations including NGOs, political parties and trade unions have recently amalgamated to form the Movement for Democracy in Fiji. They have their plans, I bet. But I would suggest they take a leaf out of the organisers of The March. They need to get together, state demands: regime to stop the charade and uphold the Constitution; restoration of an elected government by free and fair elections ASAP; return to barracks of usurpers of democracy; protection for demonstrators/citizens against police/military brutality; halt the implementation of the charter; etc. etc. AND organise a PEACEFUL/NONVIOLENT MARCH! And when we get to our meeting point, sit, eat and listen to INSPIRING/MOTIVATIONAL/
NOTEWORTHY SPEECHES and good MUSIC OF FIJI!

WE NEED TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT WE CAN PROTEST RESPECTFULLY AND AT THE SAME TIME CELEBRATE COMMUNALLY!

We have held on silently for too long. We have been PATIENT. We have been making PEACE.

But it's time we ROAR!!!!!

As in the words of the two most noteworthy speeches on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial that August day, John Lewis (representing the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) said,

The revolution is at hand, and we must free ourselves of the chains of political and economic slavery. The non-violent revolution is saying, "We will not wait for the courts to act, for we have been waiting hundreds of years. We will not wait for the President, nor the Justice Department, nor Congress, but we will take matters into our own hands, and create a great source of power, outside of any national structure that could and would assure us victory." For those who have said, "Be patient and wait!" we must say, "Patience is a dirty and nasty word." We cannot be patient, we do not want to be free gradually, we want our freedom, and we want it now.

And last but not the least Dr. King concluded with,

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

The bottom-line is: Our freedom will not be delivered to us on a silver platter. We have to stand-up and work for it! If citizens can RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE with their elected governments in Washington, in South Africa, and in India, what's stopping us from RESPECTFULLY DISAGREEING with cowards who use guns to steal power and our freedom, our rights, our liberties, our lives and our happiness from us!

So, in 2009 to be heard, let's "cash a check" for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness!"



EnufDictatorship
For the love of God, country and freedom!

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marchonwashington.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience