OK, I Never Heard Of A Virtual "Sit In"

Wow, it seem you can be all "hippy-like" without getting you hands, or butt for that matter, dirty. You can participate in a virtual "sit-in" Look, I cannot make this stuff up! It is for real.

Before I go off on how crazy it is, the thing is actually a good cause. These folks are raising awareness for human rights violations in Tunisia.

A year ago, the Tunisian regime blocked the two most popular video sharing websites: YouTube and DailyMotion. Why this harsh step? To prevent Tunisians from watching videos featuring testimonies from former political prisoners, human rights activists, and their families.

But Tunisian cyber-activists have managed to defy this ban, launching a virtual sit-in at the Tunisian presidential palace via Google Earth. The activists, from Nawaat.org, realized that Google Earth allows users to embed videos on top of satellite-image maps. The result is that any Google Earth visitor who visits the presidential palace can view a series of videos profiling victims of repression and torture. ("Enough oppression!" declares the wife of a jailed activist in one clip.)

What these guys are doing is a good thing. But , I still think the idea of a virtual sit-in is is crazy.

What I wonder is, do cyber cops come drag these guys away in virtual paddy wagons? How do you virtually hold hands and sing Bob Dylan songs? Anyways - the cause is good, maybe I will get into more about stuff like this - or maybe just silly stuff, I don't know.

Bloggers Unite For Human Rights

I am not one to jump on a lot of band-wagons, but I am joining in this. I almost didn't just because Amnesty International joined in. However I work for the UN right now (I know, I know) specifically UNMIL, and I have seen many a human rights violations take place, and part of my job is to try and stop that.

All of that said, it brings me to this. What exactly is a "human right" and who decides what human rights are? For example, what many may consider a human right in the U.S. is a great priviledge elsewhere. Do we have a right to news access for example? A lot of folks do not have that. Do we have a right to a "safe" home, a house or an apartment?

The American Heritage Dictionary states

The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

The UN's list is long and wordy. You can see it here. Not everyone everywhere has all of those rights. Everyone in the U.S. doesn't even have all of those rights (I say that because the U.S. is a pretty rights oriented country)So what I wonder is this: is freedom from torture a human right? (the UN thinks so) Many countries routinely torture their prisoners and the populations of the countries think it is "normal." Just something to think about. Is a minimum amount of space per prisoner a human right (the UN thinks so) though I did not see that in the definition. Is having three meals a day a human right?

I may not understand all about human rights, even though I am hired as an "expert" on that among other matters, I still work for human rights where I can.