Normally, on this blog, I refrain from any political posts. Today is different. Today, not too far to the north of where I live, men with guns are terrorizing unarmed citizens and monks, who are peacefully defying the terror.
I’ve been looking around the web/blogosphere this morning. Not much sign of outrage or anxiety. Items on several media sites tell basically the same discouraging story – The Guardian for example. And there are some blogs, such as The Buddhist Blog, providing updates.
Early conditioning is powerful. I still find it a bit of a challenge to remember that Burma is also called Myanmar – but that’s the junta’s name for it and a lot of pro-democracy people are happier with Burma, so I’ll stick with Burma.
I’ve never been there. Looked across the river from Thailand, but that’s it. And at that time my attitude was (and is) that democracy-loving people should show solidarity with the people of Burma by not going there as tourists, although I know there is an argument that such a stance makes things worse.
But to date, that refusal to go into the country as a tourist has been my sole protest on behalf of the people of Burma.
Has the rest of the world – have I – become inured to thinking that things can’t improve there? Have the generals succeeded in convincing the world that resistance is futile?
Where are the crowds in Western cities, demonstrating in support of the monks and citizens who are risking their lives?
Where do we go in person or online to sign a petition? And would that help? Here’s one you could check out.
The “no attribution, please” caption on this picture reinforces the story of repression. 
Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper
The Australian Government Consultation Blog Discussion Paper is, as the name implies, an invitation to public discussion about the potential value for government and the community in having a government “consultation blog”, what such a blog might contain, how it would be managed and so on.
The paper is available as a downloadable PDF and you can also read it on the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) website.
The paper provides some background on “the new internet environment”, covering the evolution in the way people communicate online and spelling out some challenges for government in seeking to participate more fully in this environment.
Some key “features” are proposed for the blog:
And challenges are listed, including the challenge of comment moderation – some draft moderation guidelines are included.
I’ve trawled around the web for some months, looking for information about government initiatives with blogging and have been in no way overwhelmed with results. I don’t know of any other document quite like this, which looks seriously at the possibilities and challenges for a blog set up by government for the specific purpose of facilitating community involvement in government decision-making.
Corporations and blogging consultants could also find the document useful, especially in its canvassing of some of the issues of blog comment and forum moderation.
With an Australian Federal election in the offing, there is of course a chance that this paper could disappear without a trace. That would be a pity. The possibilities and challenges outlined are not framed in any party-political partisan way and the discussion which hopefully will ensue should be of interest to any contemporary government which is committed to more than lip-service about public consultation and involvement of the citizenry in decision-making.
Nor is the paper narrowly focused on Australia. The issues canvassed here and suggested ways forward would be usefully examined by any democratic government.