Archive for the ‘Democracy’ Category

'Occupy hotel' recreates protest camp for guests

(12-24 14:34)

Hong Kong's pro-democracy protest camps may have been swept away but one man has recreated a rally site as an Occupy hotel -- where guests now pay to spend the night in a tent. Set up in a small apartment in the Causeway Bay shopping district, which was previously home to one of three protest camps, visitors pay HK$100 to stay in one of two small tents surrounded by protest memorabilia. The walls are draped with pro-democracy banners, and a cardboard cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping holding a yellow umbrella -- the symbol of the pro-democracy movement -- dominates the room. When nature calls, guests will find the face of the city's embattled leader Leung Chun-ying printed on the toilet paper. "I want people who missed out on the chance to 'occupy' because they were too busy or they were in another country to come in and stay in the tents,'' said Stephen Thompson, 50, a British freelance writer who has lived in Hong Kong for eight years. "When it finished I didn't want it to end,'' added Thompson, who calls his 'hotel' the "Umbrella Revolution Occupation Experience''. "It (the umbrella movement) was an achievement in itself, whether or not universal suffrage was achieved.'' Protesters occupied stretches of some of Hong Kong's main highways for more than two months from September 28, calling for free leadership elections after China said candidates for chief executive in 2017 would first be vetted by a loyalist committee. Hundreds of tents sprawled across major roads as the protest sites became entrenched camps complete with supply stalls, study areas and artwork. Causeway Bay was the last remaining site to be cleared last week. "People like to be reminded of their dreams and ideals so I think people are more than happy to spend a little bit of money for that,'' said Thompson, who lives separately on one of Hong Kong's outlying islands. The makeshift hotel opened last week and guests are booked in from all over the world, he said, including from mainland China. One current guest, who identified himself as Allen D from San Francisco, said he was staying there because he supports "`revolutionary spirit'' and was ''in awe'' of Hong Kong's protesters. The 26-year-old, who is traveling the world and camped at the protest sites after arriving in Hong Kong in November, found Thompson's replica through online accommodation site Airbnb.com Pro-democracy campaigners are still making their voices heard around the city, with large banners appearing on landmarks and pop-up markets selling movement memorabilia, as well as smaller protest gatherings. --AFP

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'Occupy hotel' recreates protest camp for guests

Hong Kong protesters rally on Xmas Eve

Around 100 pro-democracy demonstrators have taken to Hong Kong's streets to mark Christmas Eve, the first sizeable rally since the last of the protest camps which blocked main roads was cleared last week.

Protesters, holding metres-long banners that read "We want true universal suffrage", walked to the city's government headquarters on Wednesday to signal that the democracy movement was far from over.

"There is one thing that I am certain of and that is the movement had never ended in our hearts," Cheung Wai-man, a 25-year-old founder of an e-commerce company, told AFP.

"No matter how they try to stop us and pressure us, as long as we want to persevere to the end our movement will go on," Cheung said.

"We have to tell the government that the people have the power."

Protesters shouted: "Hope lies with the people!" and "The Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) does not represent us" as they walked among double decker buses and other traffic.

Various other protests were planned throughout the evening and into Christmas Day in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, including democracy-themed Christmas carol flash mobs.

Protesters occupied stretches of some main highways for more than two months from September 28, calling for free leadership elections after China's NPC said candidates for chief executive in 2017 must first be vetted by a loyalist committee.

"We have left our occupation zones... we must in the future and on a larger scale, continue to fight for democracy with peaceful means," veteran lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung told the crowd at government headquarters.

The area in Admiralty district was previously surrounded by a protest site which attracted tens of thousands of people on a few occasions.

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Hong Kong protesters rally on Xmas Eve

Democracy, equity, prosperity have been our clarion call _ President

The UNP which undermined good governance and democracy during their period of rule are trying to portray themselves as champions of these virtues today, President Mahinda Rajapaksa said.

Addressing an election rally in Maharagama yesterday, the President said: "It was during the UNP rule that the country saw an increase in the violation of human rights, deterioration of good governance, spread of corruption, undermining of democracy and the weakening of media freedom."

Contrary to this, the President said his government has always been committed to upholding democracy and ensuring good governance. "Democracy, equity and prosperity have been our clarion call," he added.

President Rajapaksa recalled that the UNP during their time of rule had taken the law into their hands to wreak vengeance on their political opponents. The UNP harassed and even killed artistes, literati, journalists and political opponents alike, he added. President Rajapaksa said his government had brought unprecedented development to the country after eradicating terrorism.

He pointed out that the living standards of the public had risen unprecedentedly.

"Today graduates don't engage in protests seeking jobs. Unemployment has come down drastically. People could travel to any part of the country within a few hours due to improved roads," the President said speaking about the benefits of some of development programs of the government. He noted that the opposition today was even criticizing these development programs which have immensely benefited the people, while noting that a crucial election was in the offing which could decide whether the country would go back to the dark era of the past or whether it would proceed on the current path towards a bright and prosperous future, the President requested the people to use their vote wisely without falling prey to the canards spread by opposition elements with vested interests. Ministers Wimal Weerawansa, Dinesh Gunewardene, JRP Suriyapperuma MP and several other UPFA political leaders addressed the gathering.

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Democracy, equity, prosperity have been our clarion call _ President

Krist Novoselic Talks About Nirvana, Flipper, And His Ideas On Changing Democracy – Video


Krist Novoselic Talks About Nirvana, Flipper, And His Ideas On Changing Democracy
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Krist Novoselic Talks About Nirvana, Flipper, And His Ideas On Changing Democracy - Video

Bangla Talk Show, Our Democracy, RTV, 18 December 2014 – Video


Bangla Talk Show, Our Democracy, RTV, 18 December 2014
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Bangla Talk Show, Our Democracy, RTV, 18 December 2014 - Video