The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces - Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Real Survivor Fiji - Frank Hates People's Opinions

In a move that can only mean the worst has yet to come, the self-appointed (he would never have been elected - not bright enough) leader of the nation of freedom loving island peoples, Fiji, is attempting to shut down the ... get this ... The Internet!

Of course, this act is beyond hubris. It reminds me of the boast that Al Gore made during the run up to America's 2000 presidential elections (to paraphrase) "I invented the Internet!"

What does Commodore Frank Bainimarama plan to say ... "I killed the Internet!"???

To which the collective response should be ... "Was that before or after you killed the country and peoples you forcibly took rule over?"

Frank hates people's opinions so that is why we at MAXINE do not really care for Frank.

This from All Headline News -

Fiji Military Moves To Close Down Blogging Sites
Richard Bowden - AHN Staff Writer - May 11, 2007 7:01 p.m. EST

Suva, Fiji (AHN) - The Fijian ruling military junta has moved to close down blog sites critical of the regime after unsuccessful attempts to find those responsible for the sites.

Senior military commander Colonel Pita Driti told Pacific Radio Friday that access to the sites would be closed yesterday.

A spokesman for Fiji's only internet provider FINTEL confirmed they had been asked to shut down the web sites by the Government "for security purposes."

"They asked us to address a few things. We have given them some options to consider, because we can't just go into the web and stop access. It would be unfair to the general public," the spokesman said.

He said if the military directed them to block the offending web sites the provider would have no choice but to agree.

"If the directive is to block, then we have no other option but to comply. ... we are seeking authorization on that from our administration," he said.

Three blog sites which have published stories which have embarrassed the military Government since their coup in December 2006 are Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup and Discombobulated Bubu.
Reference Here>>

Hey Frank! ... BLOCK THIS!

Security reasons ... who's security, Frank?

And Frank thinks to himself, "This is all such an embarrassment."

Hey Frank, GET OVER IT!

To the folks over at Intelligentsiya, Resist Frank's Coup, and Discombobulated Bubu - If you all get shut down, write to MAXINE and we will publish what you have to say. Frank can't shut us down here in the sunny Southland of the good ol' USA!

UPDATE May 17, 2007:

Fijian free speech websites have been inactive for approximately one week. Maybe the writers have "gone to ground" or is Frank and his weak kneed military followers slamming the free speech door shut?

This from Fijilive.com -

Anti-military blogsites become inactive
Thursday May 17, 2007

All activity on the controversial "resistfrankscoup" blogsite has stopped with the last entry now glaringly standing at May 9.

Last week, the Fiji Military Forces had said it was talking with Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd (FINTEL) to stop blog spots on the Internet which it claimed were a threat to national security.

But FINTEL spokesperson Iowane Koroivuki says they haven't done anything to the blogsite.

"If somebody has done something, then it is not us. It has got nothing to do with FINTEL," he said.

"If we had done something we would have told the truth anyway."

The army commander Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama told Fijilive.com that he has informed his people not to waste their time on blogs.

"The blog will take you back its not going to do any good for us.

"It's meant to depress us, it's meant to tell people anti-military stories. It's all lies and there is no use reading it," said Bainimarama.

Another blog site "Intelligentsia" shows no activity either.

Last week, Land Force Commander, Colonel Pita Driti had said they were trying to close all anti military sites namely, Intelligentsia.com, Resistfrankscoup and Fijishamelist.

He claimed the blog spots have continued to annoy the public with their lies and racists comments and they must be stopped.

"We are doing everything we can to put an end to these deceitful rumors by people behind this blogs because they are creating more problems for us and the country," he had said.

"How can we move forward when we have people like this destroying the peace and citizens of this country would be stupid to read their site and fall into their trap?"
Reference Here>>

WHAT TRAP??

You, Frank, have taken upon yourself to DEPRESS the future of your whole country by force and you think, through your EGO colored glasses, ALL decisions and opinions that are made by you are the ONLY opinions that are valid.

Very sad, this!

We, at MAXINE, say - Frank is the problem and as his name suggests --- Frank IS the BAIN of the Fijian people!

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

"Oppressive Presence" - Image Credit: Reuters

The Real Survivor Fiji - Human Writes Blogesphere

Through the month of February, the new unelected and military Government of Fiji clamped down on the freedom of the press to report what it felt were rights abuses and opinions about the legality of the December Coup action taken on behalf of Commodore Frank Bainimarama.

At the beginning of May, the Military began to try and squash the voices that began to pop-up on the World Wide Web with some initial success.

The web, however, can not be silenced short of unplugging the islands nation from the rest of the world.

Of course, with the way that Commodore Frank seems to be running the nations economy into the ground, and declaring that elections to re-establish democracy will not be able to be held until the year 2010, and let us not forget the increased human rights abuses that naturally happen through the process of an illegal military takeover of a "rule of law" based democratic nation - Frank is well on his way to accomplishing this, the unplugging of Fiji from the rest of the world, on his own.

This report from AAP via The New Zealand Herald -

Fijian activists turn to blogs to protest coup
By Xavier La Canna - 5:50PM Tuesday March 20, 2007

The names of the weblogs seem benign - White Rose, Hearts and Minds, Good Men (and Women) Doing Something, Intelligentsiya, Discombobulated Bubu.

But these blogs, and others like them, have been sprouting up in Fiji to protest last year's military coup and alleged human rights abuses that have raised serious concerns in Australia, New Zealand and the US.

Probably the best known is Intelligentsiya, the work of mainstream journalists who say the military regime is stifling their efforts to conventionally report what is happening in their country.

It was launched on January 26, about five weeks after the coup, and vowed to highlight a rash of abuses blamed on the military.

"We felt that a site like Intelligentsiya was all the more important to document and discuss the army's ever-growing human rights abuses - most notably the silencing of dissenting opinion by detention and intimidation," the first posting on the site said.
"These abuses are carried out by the armed forces in the name of 'national security'."

But Intelligentsiya has angered the interim military government, which has branded it a bogus platform for unverified reports of alleged abuses.

And earlier this month, military spokesman Neumi Leweni said efforts were underway to establish exactly who was producing material for the site.

Leweni's warning coincided with another to all journalists in Fiji that the military would haul them in for questioning if they were deemed to have filed "irresponsible" reports.

Since then, one of Intelligentsiya's authors has been questioned, but the site's reports continue to be filed. Supporters can even buy t-shirts carrying the blog's address and the slogan: "We will not be silent".

Good Men (and Women) Doing Something takes it name from the Edmund Burk saying that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

"If enough of us start saying the same thing ... that the coup is wrong and that we want and need to have the rule of law in place, and if we all stand together and make this statement, Bainimarama and his illegal government will have to listen," the site says.

The authors of the sites sound brave, but at least one - titled Ms Vakaivosavosa's Blog - has opted not to continue.

"At this time in Fiji, the climate is not right to continue blogging and I want no-one harmed on account of this blog," the final posting on the site said.

"I have received no communication from anyone to stop blogging or to delete the blog - the decision is mine alone."

Intelligentsiya authors also had to retract a story they posted recently about a man they claimed had been beaten to death by soldiers.

The backdown was used by the government as evidence the site could not be trusted.

The military spokesman Leweni recently said the interim government did not impede the media.

"We haven't really interfered with the media. All we have done with the media is getting them to report the truth," he said.

"We actually raised issues with some of them on articles they have published that were totally untrue."

The managing director of Communications Fiji Ltd, William Parkinson, whose company runs the Fiji Village website, said he closed down a popular forum recently after a visit from the deputy commander of Fiji's military, Captain Esala Teleni.

Parkinson later denied the military had pressured him to do so, and that the forum was closed because people posted personal and racial slurs.

In the past month, the general manager of the Fiji Daily Post and the news director of Fiji Television were detained separately over reports the military objected to.

Coup leader Frank Bainimarama, who has appointed himself interim prime minister, has put the entire media industry on notice that his regime won't tolerate reporting deemed to be mischievous.

"We take people up and find out why they are coming up with these stories, which are false," he said earlier this month.
Reference Here>>