Aung San Suu Kyi is Released From Prison

Ok! Our very first opinionated (is that even a word?) news topic! Just a few days ago (November 13th) in Burma, a prisoner of conscience Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest after remaining there for almost 15 years. So...what's so special about her? She was the leader of the Burmese Democracy movement in the 1990's. Her party actually won the vote for Democracy - which would be a first for Burma... but she was already under house arrest during that time. Just imagine... being "jailed" for doing the right thing, and then winning the argument (used metaphorically) that got you in trouble in the first place, but still having to serve your term in house arrest. Ouch! (and that's quite a large understatement) Anyway, here's some background information on the topic. Back in 1962, the democratic rule of Burma was overthrown by a military coup. But in 1990, elections were held for the first time in almost thirty years. As a result of the elections, the military leader of Burma refused to step down and recognize the election results, and he put all the pro-democracy leaders under arrest, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Throughout the years, she has been receiving support from organizations from all over the world; because she had finally been released after 15 years of fighting, many human rights groups have been seeing this as a huge victory in their battle against oppression. For more info, visit http://www.amnestyusa.org/. If at all possible, please donate to Amnesty International, they're a great non-profit human rights organization, and they've been fighting against oppression all over the world. Thanks!

~Chichi