Jun 29, 2008

The People And The Land

Thanks very much to FIJI GIRL who has written this thought provoking piece on our priceless assets that are slowly but surely being eroded away from under our feet.

"Thanks to repeated coup-de-tats, Fiji is no longer “the way the world should be’. But this does not mean that we have nothing to offer the modern world, nor that regaining our once proud status is impossible.

On a global scale, Fiji has two rare, precious resources that other countries cannot buy, create, manufacture, or replicate. If plotted on a Bell curve comparing the global availability and quality of these resources, Fiji’s resources fall into the enviable sector reserved for extremely rare and extremely high quality.

These same two resources are both under threat by Fiji’s current illegal regime.

1. The first resource is the genuine friendliness of our people, especially the indigenous Fijians. In other tourist destinations and parts of the world, people display friendliness to foreigners but with alterior motives – they want your business, your custom, your money, your recommendation. Fijians are friendly without agenda or expectation of something in return. It’s just the way we are.

2. The second resource is our natural ecosystems. Nothing, and I mean nothing, in the world today can compare to the untarnished pristine quality of our ecosystem.

Governor Gordon’s initiative to declare native land sacrosanct to the taukei showed incredible, fortuitous foresight.

Asian, African, Central and South American ecosystems have been thoroughly integrated with their human inhabitants, to varying degrees of devastation from slash-and-burn scorched earth policies to managed forestation, land and marine use.


Both of these resources are under threat from the illegal regime in Fiji.

The hopes, aspirations and institutions of our native people are subjected to daily abuses by the regime, the latest example being their bastardisation of the Lau Provincial Council meeting, using Mugabe-esque tactics to remove competitors of their favoured candidate and preventing legitimate delegates (who have the mandate of their people) entry to the meeting. It is testament to the indomintable nature of the human spirit and the Fijian people that our innate friendliness remains intact. One wonders how long it can remain so under such relentless torrent of abuses.

Our natural resources, precious metals, forests and fishing is being hawked in a Fire Sale by the illegal regime. Indiscriminate logging around Colo-i-Suva show no regard for standard practices of sustainable forest management. Our waters are being overfished by Asian boats, and today’s story alleging funds to help locals enter the fisheries industry were ‘wasted’ shows this regime’s lack of interest in indigenous people competing economically or pulling themselves out of poverty.

In their desperate struggle for money to pay civil service and military wages - to keep themselves in clover - the illegal regime is turning a blind eye to long-term needs of our natural resources and selling off anything for which they can find a buyer.

They will sell the baby and the bathwater, and even the goose the lays the golden eggs, for whatever price they can claw.

This illegal regime is desperate.

Don’t let them sell off our children’s future.

We, the people of Fiji, now possess these resources which are precious, which cannot be bought, created, replicated or - once lost - replaced.

This illegal regime must be stopped.

· Write to the international community and conservation NGO’s telling them your grievances against this regime

· Protest against unsustainable logging and fishing practices which are being ratcheted up under this regime

· Use boycotts, strikes and international pressure against the regime whenever possible

· Bring them down!

To those watching ‘Paradise or Bust’ on MAI TV or tribewanted.com, think about Fiji’s two treasures so painstakingly nurtured by the tribewanted virtual community.

Watch what Chodo does to try and crush them. And ask yourself – what can I do to protect our national, globally significant and irreplaceable treasures?


Tabu soro

God bless Fiji

====================

For satellite image evidence on global ecological devastation, look at the Great Barrier Reef, and the Himalayan glaciers melting, imagery of the Amazon rainforest deforestation , and happenings on Mount Kilimanjaro.

Do we want to live to see Fiji added to this list? "

Jun 27, 2008

Its the truth


Thanks Mick for articulating what everyone knows to be the current truth in Fiji. Thank you and God bless you.

Jun 26, 2008

The Diminishing Value of Truth

I received this insightful Email Contribution from a reader who signs herself Mereoni :

"The Prophet Hosea said 2,700 odd years ago, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness" (Hosea 4:6).

Most of history's great evils were committed by people who somehow convinced themselves that the evil they did was really good.

This is hardly a new problem.

But that this evil, under the guise of what is 'good' for us, is being played out here in Fiji under our very noses.

As Bubu has said time and time again, we should continually be on our guard for this distortion of the truth and recognise it for what it is, and teach our children to distinguish right from wrong, truth and untruth.

Voreqe, Aiyass, Roko Ului, Ganilau, Teleni, Nailatikau, Rabuka and Mahen Chaudary Prasad et al can go on and on about good governance and accountability, but till the day I die, this will continue to ring most hollow and go down in history as the biggest most hypocritical and deceptive prevarications in our Nation's life.

Until they come clean to the people of this nation about the real reasons they carried out the coup and confess to what they have all tried to cover up, our Nation will NEVER move forward.

They can churn out Charter and pieces of other paper, as many as they want, but this will never change the bad odour of what these people are trying to cover up."
_____________

And speaking on the Diminishing Value of the Truth, here are a few blatant examples of what Mereoni may be talking about :

Like many others in Fiji, the above is a good example of a prevarication, if not an outright lie, and Sereana Qoro should be ashamed of herself. She know better than try and pull the wool over our eyes. My tikina and yavusa are shareholders and we are very concerned at this total bullshit.

What has been done to Fijian Holdings has been a blatant political attack on yet another indigenous successful Fijian Institution, and DOES NOT send a good message out to would be investors in this country.

For goodness sake, look at Fiji Water for instance .... I wonder if people know that Mahen Choro's good friend is the owner of the rival water company .... hmm.

Oh, but wait there's more, Mahen Choro also has another good friend interested in gold mining.... hmmmm.


Speak for yourself Rokoului and Josefa Basulu . These 2 inconsequentials DO NOT speak for Lau. And how dare they assume to do so.

After all these years, I must ask what has Rokoului done for his province sitting in Suva ? All together chorus now - nada, nothing, zero. And he practically bullied his way into the position of Chairman by locking out potential contenders. Not a way to earn any kind of deference.

As I have said before RESPECT must be earned ... Rokoului may be a hereditary Chief but until he earns the respect of his people by NOT being a follower and by being a true leader - listening to his people, taking time out to learn about Mana and what it entails, then he has a chance of earning respect. But for now, sorry my boy, you are still a loser.

And what about this article ? Again the truth is diminished in these few words. Translated into the "truth according to Frank", it really means this :

The Forum didn't listen to me, myself and I , so what the point. They're a bunch of idiots, so I'll just leave .. so there. Pote , nah nah nah na na !
_________________

Hmmmmm ...... more examples of diminishing the truth coming next.

Jun 25, 2008

What an Ass

This article is too unhinged for words in so far as Ay-ass trying to assert his puny authority.

Ay-ass must not have much work to do.

Anyway the sad but humorous parallels are many as any of you that have had a sad experience with Vista may appreciate.

As the makabuna say : Too bad, so sad, so mad !

Propoganda Overdose

It is truly sickening the rubbish the illegal regime in Fiji are putting across each day.

If you are wise you will be aware that the majority of press releases from the regime such as the above is pretty much all bullshit.


I am sorry for swearing ragone but I can't help it anymore.

Read the above piece properly and lets dissect this pure piece of propoganda:

(A) 1000 villages. What a neat number - not 962 or 346 ???
Hmmmm. Personally, I think this number was quite likely plucked out of the smoggy Suva air.

(B) No mention of how many meetings were convened and in which provinces ?

(C) No mention of how many people attended each meeting?

I personally know of quite a number of venues where NO ONE turned up.
Are these meetings recorded in the magic number of 1000?

And at another non-memorable meeting, 5 people turned up (and I was one of them)

... Hmmmm these numbers can hardly be termed "the majority of people" .


(D) At these meetings HOW was public agreement with changes to the electoral process monitored? A show of hands ?

I certainly wasn't asked to show my hand at the meeting!


So, summary of this press release ?

PURE BALONEY (very similar to Shyster's gas-bag releases)

Jun 21, 2008

The Full Moon Lecture

Ragone, I am baaaack ! Thanks to everyone who emailed me while I was ill. I have missed out on a lot but not much escapes my fellow bloggers who have covered most of it. I'm sorry that I was not been able to email you all back but I appreciated all the good wishes. Vinaka.

I had the luxury of reading all the blogger contributions from fellow Fiji Freedom Bloggers while prostrate and found much inspiration from most.

One of my fellow bloggers Tim, like FijiGirl, has much to say and I value very much their contributions.

So I have taken the liberty of pasting (with a few insertions by me which I'm sure he will forgive me for .. eh Tim ?) a contribution of what Tim had to say recently on SV .....
________________

ONCE AGAIN and just as the full moon is with us, our nation cops it again from Frankie and his apologist's paranoia kicking in again.

Does anybody else think Frank trying to lecture us on neo-colonialism, respect and dignity is as funny as a fart?

I’d be laughing if it wasn’t bloody serious!

Frank isn’t the Brains of Britain, nor of Fiji, and most actually know what a bloody coward he is. His followers are probably too polite to say so only ‘cos he keeps them in smokes.


Its almost as funny as Dr Shyster Shameen lecturing on human rights or Madge Leweni trying to stay in tune.

Ooooh the indignity !
Ooooh the lack of respect !

The latest is that they"doubt the sincerity of Australia and NZ", and that Bhai reckons that "disparaging remarks of the Australian and New Zealand governments show that these two governments are condescending, hold neo-colonialist views and fail to recognise that Fiji is a sovereign state which needs to be treated with dignity and respect” (RNZi).

FIRSTLY SOME FACTS to remind Frank what the real situation is on the ground.

(1) Fiji’s sovereignty (and its population’s right to self determination) was raped by Frankie and his backers back in December 2006.

(2) The people of Fiji can see who is schooling Frankie - they tried using the same terminolgy unsuccessfully several months back. As many of us have pointed out before, Frank & his advisors hatred of neo-colonialism is rather hollow and selective. eg.

- China’s (and others’) imperialism = OK
- Australia/NZ = Not OK (that is if it can be described as neo-colonialism rather than simply keeping to the bargain Frankie made in Nov 2006)

3) it is even more laughable when what Frank & his cronies want to do is colonise the Fijian population according to the State of Frank’s Imperial Army and its impedimenta - like we have previously stated - all plans are tending towards fascism.

4) The dignity and respect the regime craves is something that is earned and not simply a one way thing. Here's how these virtues can be earned :

- if the junta applied a little dignity and respect for the people of Fiji
- acted in good faith and stuck to promises
- stopped lying
- dealt with some of the sins of the regime so that justice, dignity and respect for the friends and family they have murdered, beaten, robbed and generally abused can be addressed
- stop trying to socially engineer a whole society and race of people
- stop trying to undermine and depower traditional institutions dear to the itaukei
- front up and admit the REAL reasons this coup was carried out

THEN crabby Frankie and his pathetic circus might be taken seriously.

—————————————————————————–

Isn’t it time for a reality check?
What have we got ? :


A) A vindictive revengeful Chodo as master of ceremonies who, when he can get past himself, puts in a days work. The rest of the time he spends neglecting the wife, servicing his "other kitchen", treating everyone like shit, and trying to figure out how he can use left-wing ideology and the loyalty of his members to support his own agenda. Comradeship and brotherhood for the working class man - we gotta stick together - united we stand, divided we fall (Shyster and Bubba alike). Admirable qualities IF they were genuine, except a couple of million stashed offshore. Chodo's RECORD TO DATE kind of shows otherwise - doesn’t this ring alarm bells for those that worship him?

B) The Brown Nose Brigade - Parmass, Aziz, Judge Nazi Shameen all desperately clinging to their elitist pongs.

C) A Military Commander that makes public statements from time to time and barely makes it past his REHEARSED lines everytime he has to face a camera or microphone - might as well have a bloody big monty python hand winding up the clockwork key stuck in the middle of his back.

D) A new (recycled) Lewenski attempting public relations when he has never been reknown for his ability to stay in tune. Perhaps his wife pumps him full of laughing gas in between grog bowl sesssions. Her duty is to keep his handkerchieves clean so he can mop up the dribble.

E) Doctor Shyster Shameen! Doctor Who?! You know - that woman that’s concerned for human rights. (Oh yes - those things!).
The one that’s struggled all her life and is so in touch with the working class man (oh yes, and of course women!). Rags to riches!. She should be an example to us all!. Fact is SHE IS, but not in the way she’d hoped to be.

D) One illegal iAG aka Aiyass of the verbal diarrhea variety and the gutless Judge Gates (as well as half the Catholic Church!). All way too busy passing judgement on everyone else in a bid to disguise their own BASIC personal dishonesty.

—————————————————————————–

How in God’s name - or anybody else you might worship, do they expect people to take them seriously?

How long ago was NIMILOTE VEREBASAGA murdered?. What is so complicated ?

Where did Shyster Shameen of the champion of “human rights” with a pistol in her hand go on this ? She ACTUALLY expects us to take her seriously, as does Frank, as does Chodo and a few others of them.

This junta undertook to return to democracy asap. They all attempted to show us how appropriate and fitting they are to the positions they’ve assumed. Mai Vei !

Their credentials to perform the positions they’ve assumed are supposedly the best available. WHY then are they about to miss, which in many countries, will be a full electoral cycle in bringing us to elections?


Well maybe one reason is, that DESPITE what they ..........:

- signed up to
- committed to
- promised repeatedly
- assured everyone
- pretended to ...

to ALL they had their hand out to for money (and what they hoped would be mana or legitimacy) - EU, UN, FORUM, USAID, AUSTAID etc etc ......... they were, just like the dumbest of criminals, actually trying to formulate a background agenda.

Give us a break fellas.

Well Mr Coming-to-Fiji-Reeves - how the hell can you sort this absolute bugger’s muddle towards “progress” ?

—————————————————————————–

Bottom line is Fiji's people have been held hostage by a treasonous madman with guns for 18 months. Plain and simple.

Not his role.
Not mandated.
Illegal.
Treasonous.
All he needs to do is lay down arms and crawl away.

What then ?
Who knows ?

Jun 19, 2008

Bu checking in


Ragone thanks for your emails.

No, I havent been kidnapped by the Military (yet). I only have the flu which has left me in bed for a while. I will be back soon.

God bless you all and keep drinking that draunimoli.
Bu

Jun 4, 2008

For the Frog Seekers and Boto Hoppers


Bula vinaka ragone .... vinaka for all your emails in regards to downloading the PDF versions of my previous posts on the topic of the Boiling Frog Syndrome. I apologise if I cannot answer every one of you individually. You will find these articles in PDF format in the following links/locations :

Free Speech for Fiji Blog
Solivakasama Blog

My grateful thanks to my fellow Fiji Freedom Bloggers for posting these for us.
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OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END THE DAY WE BECOME SILENT ABOUT THE THINGS THAT MATTER Martin Luther King, Jr.