YES, I can...

2012 is a gift I welcome and am grateful for. Yes, I can enoy another twelve months of life; yes, I am well and confident, ever better, ever stronger; yes, I will speak up for all those everywhere who also need a chance, need support, need protection, need encouragement.
There is no turning back, no relinquishing what has been achieved, no doubt, no despair.
There is only hope and thought and love and ongoing life.

And with that, we can ensure freedom and rights for all everywhere...
the right to think, speak, love, and to be cured of illness.

Václav Havel - IN MEMORIAM

With the greatest of respect for this most honorable defender of human rights, I am deeply grieved that VÁCLAV HAVEL has died today. His voice and thoughts will be sorely missed in our age of increasing human rights with simultaneous increase of threats to precisely those rights. Let us all be vigilant to carry on the cause of one of the authors of CHARTER 77.

Let us all remember this man with deepest admiration and in deepest humility!

FREEDOM FOR LIU XIAOBO !

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day.
In Berlin, Nobel Literature Prize laureate Herta Müller joined in a demonstration at the Chinese Embassy for human rights and especially to free the Chinese author and Nobel Peace Prize winner LIU XIAOBO.
Also yesterday, Nobel Prize laureates around the world called for the release of LIU XIAOBO from the prison in China in which he has been held since 2009 for an eleven-year sentence. This call was made on the eve of the presentation of this years Nobel Prizes in Oslo and Stockholm.

Do not forget

LIU XIAOBO !

Free

LIU XIAOBO !

Freedom of expression and opinion, free access to information, freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. LIU XIAOBO's "crime" in China was to demand nothing more than this in the Charta '08 for the respect of the rights "guaranteed" in the Chinese constitution.

LIU XIAOBO

must be set free.

Liu Xiaobo's poem from prison:

Your Lifelong Prisoner

To Xia

My dear,
I'll never give up the struggle for freedom from the oppressors'
jail, but I'll be your willing prisoner for life.

I'm your lifelong prisoner, my love
I want to live in your dark insides
surviving on the dregs in your blood

inspired by the flow of your estrogen

I hear your constant heartbeat
drop by drop, like melted snow from a mountain stream
if I were a stubborn, million-year rock
you'd bore right through me
drop by drop
day and night

Inside you
I grope in the dark
and use the wine you've drunk
to write poems looking for you
I plead like a deaf man begging for sound
Let the dance of love intoxicate your body

I always feel
your lungs rise and fall when you smoke
in an amazing rhythm
you exhale my toxins
I inhale fresh air to nourish my soul

I'm your lifelong prisoner, my love
like a baby loath to be born
clinging to your warm uterus
you provide all my oxygen
all my serenity

A baby prisoner
in the depths of your being
unafraid of alcohol and nicotine
the poisons of your loneliness
I need your poisons
need them too much

Maybe as your prisoner
I'll never see the light of day
but I believe
darkness is my destiny
inside you
all is well

The glitter of the outside world
scares me
exhausts me
I focus on
your darkness –
simple and impenetrable

-Harvard University Press from No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Poems by Xiaobo Liu. Copyright © 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century !

I wish for more such fellow countrymen before the country of my birth sinks fully into the dark night of medieval ignorance and prejudice. Mr. Prayer-Perry should perhaps ask his god who gave him the right to demean and discriminate other fellow humans or to deny them the rights and privileges and duties he enjoys himself. He is not running a campaign for president, but a campaign for Ayatollah of America. Watch out, people, before they put you under a veil with stars and stripes and introduce a christaria reminiscent of the horrors one of the first great American authors, Nathaniel Hawthorne, described in The Scarlet Letter. I for one will always be in solidarity with all the Hester Prynnes everywhere!

Perry’s Anti-Gay Rights Focus Is Divisive Even to Staff

The New York Times, by RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., Published: December 8, 2011

OKATIE, S.C. — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas’ hard turn the past two days on gay issues, in which he has suggested that gay rights are inconsistent with both American and Christian values, has generated enormous criticism from lesbian and gay organizations and some religious groups, and has even helped split Mr. Perry’s top campaign aides over a new ad.

In that campaign ad, released on Wednesday, Mr. Perry says “you don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday” to know it is wrong that gay men and lesbians openly serve in the military at a time when there is no organized prayer in public schools.       

The Statue of Liberty

In the "debate" on immigration currently raging in the USA (and which is much more a populist diatribe to coddle the fearful and get their uninformed votes, especially in "Republican" circles), I would simply like to remind us all of Lady Liberty's position on that issue, as engraved on a bronze tablet there:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[Emma Lazarus: The New Colossus, 1903]

Do you want to close the golden door? Where does YOUR family originate from? Only North American Indians can claim "non-immigrant" status, so wake up everybody. The rest of us nearly successfully wiped out all the "natives". This is ONE world, people. Let it be one with liberty and justice for ALL!

It's all about liberty !

Don't forget what happened ten years ago today.
And remember, the attack was against LIBERTY, your freedom and mine to be whatever we are, to say and write and read any opinion we wish, to live freely with each other in an atmosphere of respect and true tolerance, to cast off the chains of any and all religious fundamentalism.
We still have a lot to do to push back what encroached on our liberty that day as two towers burned and collapsed. All too often since then we have witnessed the tower of liberty collapsing for "security" or for "religious reasons" at different spots around the globe, and we must do all in our power to strengthen the tower of individual liberty everywhere.
With liberty and justice for all, we may be able to make this world a better place for all and finally witness the smoke of 9/11 lifting to reveal the blue sky once more.

Do Something to Help

Government is NOT your enemy; your enemy are those trying to convince you that "the market" will solve everything. Deregulation of the markets (banking, finance, insurance, hedgefunds, etc.) is precisely what has led to the financial crises around the world today. Financial institutions must be regulated and FORCED to do what they refuse to do on their own: care for the welfare of their employess and the country as a whole. Only watching "return" to stockholders is a rip-off for the average citizen who sees those companies use the country as a base without bearing any responsibility.
Fair taxation: higher for the rich and for high-profit business, lower for the less well-off
Solidarity: health insurance for everyone to cover all healthcare costs
Good government: for the interests of the people as a whole, not for a select few with more lobbyists
Control: of the markets, not of your government

ENACT THE PRESIDENT'S JOB PLAN! There should be even more done for the average citizen, but at least this is a plan that even the Republicans should be able to support despite the anarchists in their ranks!

Everyone should be able to ...

Everyone should be able to have the privilege, the duty of marriage with the one they love!

Detlef and I, who celebrated 15 years of relationship in May, were able yesterday to celebrate our Tenth Wedding Anniversary. The law allowing civil unions between gays and lesbians came into effect on August 1, 2001, and we were there that day with our paperwork complete and got the first appointment to say "I do" in the Weißensee district of Berlin. On the morning of August 7 at 9am we were in the handsome room in Parkstraße with Detlef's mom and our friend Erich to become legally wed. Waiting for us at home was Detlef's father with a congratulations basket, and that evening we threw a spontaneous party to celebrate to which everyone was able to come; better than had we planned it long in advance.

May every country, state, jurisdiction that has not already done so speedily enact legislation to enable gay and lesbian couples to make their relationships legal, with all the duties and responsibilities and privileges and rights involved.

Let them drink tea ...

... yes, drink tea is what those lame-brains should do and leave governing the country, especially given the implications of poorly caring for a citizenry and a country's obligations in our ever more globalized system, to those interested in and committed to governing well, judiciously, fairly, socially, responsibly rather than to those who are actually only interested in abolishing government altogether.
It is time to call these Tea-Party denizens what they truly are: dangerously radical ANARCHISTS !

See also this accurate editorial in today's print edition of The New York Times:

To Escape Chaos, a Terrible Deal

There is little to like about the tentative agreement between Congressional leaders and the White House except that it happened at all. The deal would avert a catastrophic government default, immediately and probably through the end of 2012. The rest of it is a nearly complete capitulation to the hostage-taking demands of Republican extremists. It will hurt programs for the middle class and poor, and hinder an economic recovery.

[...]

Democratic negotiators decided that the automatic cut system, as bad as it is, was less of a threat to the economy than another default crisis, and many are counting on future Congresses to undo its arbitrary butchering.

Sadly, in a political environment laced with lunacy, that calculation is probably correct. Some Republicans in the House were inviting a default, hoping that an economic earthquake would shake Washington and the Obama administration beyond recognition. Democrats were right to fear the effects of a default and the impact of a new recession on all Americans.

President Obama could have been more adamant in dealing with Republicans, perhaps threatening to use constitutional powers to ignore the debt ceiling if Congress abrogated its responsibility to raise it. But this episode demonstrates the effectiveness of extortion. Reasonable people are forced to give in to those willing to endanger the national interest.

Democrats can look forward to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts next year, and will have to make the case in the 2012 elections for new lawmakers who will undo the damage.

And, I might add, the wealthy MUST carry more of the burden of taxation; and tea partiers should stop believing that they are helping themselves with what they demand: they are only helping the very wealthy to the detriment of all less well-off!

Tax Those Well-Off More & Help Those in Need More !

Use money wisely, tax wisely and fairly, spend on needs!

President Obama: Both Parties Have a Responsibility to Solve this Problem

Here is a link to the full text of this speech of reason!

Tell everybody, whether they ask or not!

Fantastic it is that this long overdue action to move the USA one step closer to the Twentyfirst Century has finally taken place. Guess what, you can be gay and serve your country, too!

Military certifies repeal of ‘don’t ask’ policy

The Washington Post, July 22

The Obama administration announced Friday that the military had made all necessary preparations to allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces, setting the stage for the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 60 days.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented President Obama with a formal certification Friday afternoon at the White House that the military’s ability to fight and recruit would not be harmed by the overt presence of gays in the ranks.

'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal: Closing a chapter in history: President Obama signed the landmark repeal in December, ending a 17-year ban on gays serving openly in the military.

• July 7: Gay troops cheer ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ court ruling

The certification marked the final hurdle in a nearly two-decade-long campaign by gay-rights groups and civil-rights advocates to integrate the armed forces. Under a law passed by Congress and signed by Obama in December, the 18-year-old “don’t-ask, don’t-tell” policy will now automatically vanish in 60 days.

Congratulations to Obama, the outgoing and incoming Defense Secretaries, and all the commanders of the American military for recognizing - finally - that you can be gay and still serve and defend your country. This move into the Twentyfirst Century should be quickly followed by legalizing gay marriage throughout the country and abolishing that so-called "Defense" of Marriage edict that at best applies to the Late Middle Ages and Maledictus and his crew of hypocrites.

Thoughts on the Fourth of July

Freedom is the justice of the recognition of the validity and right to be of the difference of others, i.e. of others' freedom. There is no freedom without others, no justice without freedom, no freedom without its recognition and acceptance of and by others.

New York Makes a Former Citizen Happy!

New York Allows Same-Sex Marriage, Becoming Largest State to Pass Law
The New York Times, June 24, 2011

ALBANY — Lawmakers voted late Friday to legalize same-sex marriage, making New York the largest state where gay and lesbian couples will be able to wed and giving the national gay-rights movement new momentum from the state where it was born. [...]

Dozens more states have laws or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. Many of them were approved in the past few years, as same-sex marriage moved to the front line of the culture war and politicians deployed the issue as a tool for energizing their base.

But New York could be a shift: It is now by far the largest state to grant legal recognition to same-sex weddings, and one that is home to a large, visible and politically influential gay community. Supporters of the measure described the victory in New York as especially symbolic — and poignant — because of its rich place in the history of gay rights: the movement’s foundational moment, in June 1969, was a riot against police inside the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the West Village.

In Albany, there was elation after the vote. But leading up to it, there were moments of tension and frustration. At one point, Senator Kevin S. Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat, erupted when he and other supporters learned they would not be allowed to make a floor speech.

“This is not right,” he yelled, before storming from the chamber.

During a brief recess during the voting, Senator Shirley L. Huntley, a Queens Democrat who had only recently come out in support of same sex marriage, strode from her seat to the back of the Senate chamber to congratulate Daniel J. O’Donnell, an openly gay Manhattan lawmaker who sponsored the legislation in the Assembly.

They hugged, and Assemblyman O’Donnell, standing with his longtime partner, began to tear up.

“We’re going to invite you to our wedding,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “Now we have to figure out how to pay for one.”

This is truly good news, well-timed to crown Christopher Street Day celebrations and parades around the world, including the one in Berlin today. Gay Pride has been served, and those who love and commit to each other have been recognized in yet another jurisdiction. May the rest of the USA and the WORLD follow suit forthwith!

Ai Weiwei is Free ...

... but where is Liu Xiaobo ?

SHAME on the USA!

Bank robber planned crime and punishment bank robbery - Gaston Gazette
Being sentenced to jail was the only way this man had to have the medical treatment he needed paid for. Could there be anything more shameful for a so-called civilized country than to give its inhabitants a choice between jail, bankrupcy, and death from serious illness?

And some of you out there still think universal health care insurance is communist? It is merely humane and it is an absolute necessity!

Wake up and support Obama on all measures to provide FULL coverage for ALL people in the US whatever illness they may have, however rich or poor they may be, regardless of what some private insurance company aims to reach in profit goals!

SOLIDARITY FOR THOSE ILL IS WHERE HUMANITY BEGINS!

SHAME ON MINNESOTA !

There is really nothing else to say. It is so absurd, painful, arrogant, and inhumane that some people so HATE others LOVING each other and making a commitment to that LOVE !
Why do so many Republicans hate so much and fear the freedom of their fellow citizens so intensely?

West Central Tribune

Legislature sends anti-gay marriage amendment to 2012 election
ST. PAUL -- An 18-month campaign about gay marriage began moments after the Minnesota House approved a constitutional amendment on the issue late Saturday. [...]
The House debate, the most emotional in years, climaxed with Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, explaining why he was one of four Republicans to vote against the amendment.
Kriesel recalled losing both legs to an improvised explosive device in Iraq.
“I nearly died...” Kriesel said to a silent House. “I thought I was dead. I remember thinking about my life and kids. ... It changed me.”
If he can be with who he loves, the freshman lawmaker said, others also should have that ability.
His wife sitting nearby, Kriesel added that he joined the Army at 17 because “I love the country.”
“This amendment doesn’t represent what I went to fight for,” he said, with demonstrators’ chants drifting in from outside the House chamber. “Hear that out there? That is what I went to fight for and I am glad about that.”
After ending on the losing side, Kriesel went out through the giant House doors to the loudest cheer of the day from gay rights supporters.
He walked past them en route back to his office, with dozens of people shaking his hand or offering a hug.
When he left, the crowd of a couple hundred resumed singing “We Shall Overcome” and chanting “We Will Prevail.”

THERE IS ANOTHER POSSIBILITY:

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage
Republicans and older Americans remain opposed
by Frank Newport
PRINCETON, NJ -- For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The increase since last year came exclusively among political independents and Democrats. Republicans' views did not change.

Yes, He Gets the Credit !

Credit accrues where credit is due!

The Colbert Report

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Obama Takes Credit for Bin Laden's Assassination
Barack Obama is so desperate for a bump in the polls that he takes the easy road of killing the world's most wanted man. (04:44)

Osama Bin Laden Dead | The White House

Osama Bin Laden Dead - The White House

Osama Bin Laden Dead
Posted by Macon Phillips on May 02, 2011 at 12:16 AM EDT
Tonight, President Obama addressed the Nation to announce that the United States has killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda. Watch or read his full remarks below, and learn more from the transcript of the White House briefing call afterwards.
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON OSAMA BIN LADEN
East Room, 11:35 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist who’s responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.
It was nearly 10 years ago that a bright September day was darkened by the worst attack on the American people in our history. The images of 9/11 are seared into our national memory -- hijacked planes cutting through a cloudless September sky; the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground; black smoke billowing up from the Pentagon; the wreckage of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the actions of heroic citizens saved even more heartbreak and destruction.
And yet we know that the worst images are those that were unseen to the world. The empty seat at the dinner table. Children who were forced to grow up without their mother or their father. Parents who would never know the feeling of their child’s embrace. Nearly 3,000 citizens taken from us, leaving a gaping hole in our hearts.
On September 11, 2001, in our time of grief, the American people came together. We offered our neighbors a hand, and we offered the wounded our blood. We reaffirmed our ties to each other, and our love of community and country. On that day, no matter where we came from, what God we prayed to, or what race or ethnicity we were, we were united as one American family.
We were also united in our resolve to protect our nation and to bring those who committed this vicious attack to justice. We quickly learned that the 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda -- an organization headed by Osama bin Laden, which had openly declared war on the United States and was committed to killing innocents in our country and around the globe. And so we went to war against al Qaeda to protect our citizens, our friends, and our allies.
Over the last 10 years, thanks to the tireless and heroic work of our military and our counterterrorism professionals, we’ve made great strides in that effort. We’ve disrupted terrorist attacks and strengthened our homeland defense. In Afghanistan, we removed the Taliban government, which had given bin Laden and al Qaeda safe haven and support. And around the globe, we worked with our friends and allies to capture or kill scores of al Qaeda terrorists, including several who were a part of the 9/11 plot.
Yet Osama bin Laden avoided capture and escaped across the Afghan border into Pakistan. Meanwhile, al Qaeda continued to operate from along that border and operate through its affiliates across the world.
And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network.
Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan. And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice.
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda’s leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.
Yet his death does not mark the end of our effort. There’s no doubt that al Qaeda will continue to pursue attacks against us. We must –- and we will -- remain vigilant at home and abroad.
As we do, we must also reaffirm that the United States is not –- and never will be -– at war with Islam. I’ve made clear, just as President Bush did shortly after 9/11, that our war is not against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader; he was a mass murderer of Muslims. Indeed, al Qaeda has slaughtered scores of Muslims in many countries, including our own. So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly made clear that we would take action within Pakistan if we knew where bin Laden was. That is what we’ve done. But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding. Indeed, bin Laden had declared war against Pakistan as well, and ordered attacks against the Pakistani people.
Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens. After nearly 10 years of service, struggle, and sacrifice, we know well the costs of war. These efforts weigh on me every time I, as Commander-in-Chief, have to sign a letter to a family that has lost a loved one, or look into the eyes of a service member who’s been gravely wounded.
So Americans understand the costs of war. Yet as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defense of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are. And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda’s terror: Justice has been done.
Tonight, we give thanks to the countless intelligence and counterterrorism professionals who’ve worked tirelessly to achieve this outcome. The American people do not see their work, nor know their names. But tonight, they feel the satisfaction of their work and the result of their pursuit of justice.
We give thanks for the men who carried out this operation, for they exemplify the professionalism, patriotism, and unparalleled courage of those who serve our country. And they are part of a generation that has borne the heaviest share of the burden since that September day.
Finally, let me say to the families who lost loved ones on 9/11 that we have never forgotten your loss, nor wavered in our commitment to see that we do whatever it takes to prevent another attack on our shores.
And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people.
The cause of securing our country is not complete. But tonight, we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history, whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people, or the struggle for equality for all our citizens; our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place.
Let us remember that we can do these things not just because of wealth or power, but because of who we are: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. May God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Close Guantánamo!

Yet another post to call for an end to this questionable detainment center, years after Obama's election and promise to close the incarceration center at Guantánamo, where people are held under suspicion, without trial or tribunal, and with scanty or no evidence, only the claim (by whom? how determined?) that they are "dangerous" to the U.S. and its allies.

CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO NOW!

The WikiLeaks disclosures, though feeding both the pros and cons, offer NO information whatsoever that could justify continuation of this facility and detention of those "suspects" against whom the suspicion is not even substantial enough to bring charges against them in either criminal or military courts or tribunals!

CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO NOW!

Here only one of the many articles in the press since yesterday, this one from The Washington Post:

Guantanamo documents revive debate

Anne E. Kornblut, Monday, April 25, 9:40 PM

A trove of newly released documents about detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has revived familiar questions: Were too many innocent men incarcerated there over the past decade?

Or did U.S. officials ultimately free too many dangerous detainees?

Advocates on both sides of the debate have new evidence to cite in the documents, obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, which say how the current and former detainees were classified by U.S. investigators.

Some initially considered dangerous were freed after spendIng years in the facility; others, released because they appeared harmless, later returned to battlefields in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and elsewhere.

The documents — whose overall thrust is consistent with years of reporting on Guantanamo but offer new details — did not shake partisans from long-held positions.

“These documents are remarkable because they show just how questionable the government’s basis has been for detaining hundreds of people, in some cases indefinitely, at Guantanamo,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “The one-sided assessments are rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false.”

CLOSE GUANTÁNAMO NOW!

Calling on China to Respect Human Rights!

FREE AI WEIWEI!

CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF AI WEIWEI

Greetings,

To the Honorable Minister Mr. Cai Wu

Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China

Our museums are members of The International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the International Committee of ICOM for Museums and Collections of Modern Art (CIMAM), a non-governmental organization with formal relations with UNESCO. On April 6, CIMAM sent a communiqué calling for the release of Ai Weiwei. Our museums, foundations, and communities of Facebook fans and Twitter followers support CIMAM's statement:

"The detention of artists and activists is not only inconsistent with China's commitment to the fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in China's own constitution, it is also inconsistent with the Chinese government's pledge, through the Ministry of Culture, to promote all artistic disciplines and to advance artistic ideas. As organizations that represent modern and contemporary art around the world, such actions and the obscurity surrounding them are diametrically opposed to our values. They are of grave concern and consequence for the well-being of Ai Weiwei and for the artistic community at large, and hinder future collaboration with the Chinese colleagues we welcomed at our recent annual meeting in Shanghai."

请愿书

致 中华人民共和国文化部 蔡武

诉求: 要求释放艾未未

本博物馆為国际博物馆协会(ICOM)之成员。也為其下负责现代美术之博物馆暨收藏国际委员会(CIMAM)之委员，此委员会虽非为政府机构，但与联合国教科文组织有着正式的关系。我们在此支持国际委员会于四月六日所发表之请求释放艾未未的声明:

"对艺术家及人权份子的拘捕，不仅违反了中国在国际人权宣言以及宪法中对于基本人权的保障，同时与中国政府藉由文化部所宣导，對於各式艺术创作及创意的提倡並不一致。身为代表着全球现当代艺术的机构，此做法与我们所深信的价值是背道而驰的。我们对于艾未未的人身安全以及整体艺术界感到深切的忧虑。此外，这也将影响我们于上海举行的年度会议中与中国艺术界所建立的合作关系."

Sign the petition to free Ai Weiwei here.

Here are the initiating signatories:
Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation
and Alexandra Munroe, Samsung Senior Curator, Asian Art
Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Director General, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao,
and Deputy Director and Chief Officer for Global Strategies, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Glenn Lowry, Director, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Sir Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate and Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern
Kaywin Feldman, President, Association of Art Museum Directors and Director
and President, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Yongwoo Lee, President, The Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Michael Govan, Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Vishakha Desai, President and Melissa Chiu, Vice President of Global Arts, Asia Society
Jim Cuno, President and Director, Art Institute of Chicago
Julián Zugazagoitia, Director, Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City
Ann Philbin, Director, Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles
Olga Viso, Director, Walker Art Center
Alfred Pacquement, Director, Musée national d'art moderne/Centre de création industrielle, Paris
Arnold Lehman, Director, Brooklyn Museum
Jill Medvedow, Director, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
Julia Peyton-Jones, Director and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-director of Exhibitions and Programmes
and Director of International Projects, Serpentine Gallery, London
Poul Erik Tøjner, Director, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark
Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Neal Benezra, Director, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Tony Ellwood, Director, and Suhanya Raffel, Deputy Director, Queensland Art Gallery, Australia
Thomas W. Lentz, Elizabeth and John Moors Cabot Director, Harvard Art Museums
Ann Goldstein, Director, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Apinan Poshynanda, Bangkok Art and Culture Centre Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Artistic Director, dOCUMENTA (13) and Bernd Leifeld, CEO, documenta
Manray Hsu, Founding Director, Taipei Contemporary Art Center
Holly Hotchner, Nanette L. Laitman Director, Museum of Arts and Design, New York

Joel Wachs, President, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Pittsburgh

Ai Weiwei arrest protests at Chinese embassies worldwide
Inspired by artist's installation with 1001 Qing dynasty seats, curator suggests taking chairs into street in silent protest

AND DO NOT FORGET:

Free Liu Xiaobo, free Liu Xiaobo, free Liu Xiaobo!