Bitter Sweet and Sour

Bitter Sweet and Sour by ~Voivodess

Tanuki Girl

The Tanuki (Japanese racoon-dog),as with fox (Kitsune), is a popular character in Japanese folklore. The mythical Tanuki is often mischievous and jolly, he is thought to be able to shape shift, and sometimes believed to be a transformation of the souls of household goods that were used for one hundred years or more and several shrines have stories of past priests who were tanuki in disguise.
Although quite a trickster he is also gullible and easily distracted.
One well-known tale involving the Tanuki is that of “Bunbuku Chagama”
(rough translation,’happiness bubbling over like a tea pot). The story is of a poor man who finds a tanuki caught in a trap, he sets him free and then returns home.
That night, the tanuki comes to the poor mans house to thank him for his kindness. The Tanuki transforms himself into a teapot (chagama) and tell the man to sell him for money.
The man sells the teapot to a monk, who brings it home, cleans it and sets it over a fire to boil water, as the heat rises around him the tanuki sprouts legs and runs, half transformed, out the door and back to the poor man. This time the tanuki instructs the man to set up a roadside attraction and charge admission for people to see a teapot walking a tightrope. The plan works with the man no longer poor and giving the strange-looking tanuki a safe home.
::Tanuki Girl::

Burma: A Global Roar

Dear friends,

Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet-- where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.

People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends*, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below -if you haven't already- and forward this email to everyone you care about:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php?cl=21222727

The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.

The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.

With hope and determination, Ricken, Paul, Pascal, Graziela, Galit, Ben, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team

*Or, in this case, repost this on your blog.