Canvasopedia

MoveOn creates electronic advocacy groups to influence government on issues of peace and social justice.  It is a grassroots organization aimed at involving ordinary people in politics in order to narrow the gap between public opinion and legislative action.  With a network of over 600,000 “online activists,” MoveOn helps busy but concerned citizens find their political voice by organizing “electronic advocacy groups” around issues such as campaign finance, environmental and energy issues, impeachment, gun safety, and nuclear disarmament. 

When the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, visited Tehran earlier this month, his purpose was to meet freely with Iranians and learn more about the human rights situation in the country. But while he was an official guest of the government, the UN representative's welcome did not come without a price. The price -- which has only become apparent since his departure -- was a harsh crackdown by the hard-line-dominated judiciary on at least one of those who talked to him.

Tens of thousands of people have protested in London against President Bush and the war on Iraq. Organisers claim 200,000 joined the demonstration, although police put the numbers closer to 100,000. The protest was overshadowed by the bombs in Turkey, but was described as good-natured and non-violent. Meanwhile Mr Bush carried on with his engagements, which culminated in a banquet for the Queen at the US Ambassador's residence in Regents Park.

In November 2003, a revolution took place in Georgia - a revolution of a kind the turbulent region had never seen before. Not one person was injured, not a drop of blood was spilled. Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the flawed results of a parliamentary election. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze, a man who had ruled Georgia for more than 30 years in total, as its Soviet-era Communist Party boss and its longest-serving post-independence president. Mr Shevardnadze told protesters they risked causing a civil war and he deployed hundreds of soldiers on the streets of Tbilisi. At that point, student demonstrators decided to give red roses to the soldiers. Many soldiers laid down their guns. Parliament stormed "People were kissing the police and military, it was really spectacular," said Giorgi Kandelaki, a 21-year-old student. Constitutional changes have boosted Mr Saakashvili's powers "And the roses of course which people had with them, which Misha carried with him into the parliament hall, that was the moment when people said that it was a rose revolution." Misha is Mikhail Saakashvili, the US-educated 35-year-old firebrand who, on 23 November, led the demonstrators to the parliament building. Along with thousands of his supporters he forced his way through the thick wooden doors of the parliament chamber where Mr Shevardnadze was inside, giving a speech. Mr Saakashvili held a long-stemmed red rose above his head and shouted "Resign!" He waved the rose in the face of Georgia's 75-year-old president. Mr Shevardnadze's bodyguards rushed him out of the parliament building by a back door. That was the moment that power changed hands in Georgia. In January 2004, Mr Saakashvili was elected president. The following month, the Georgian parliament passed constitutional amendments which strengthened the presidency at the parliament's expense, and gave the country a cabinet and a prime minister for the first time. Then in March 2004, Mr Saakashvili's National Movement-Democratic Front won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. In the first year after the revolution, dozens of former government officials were jailed on corruption and embezzlement charges. Their assets were confiscated and their savings moved to state coffers. One of Mr Saakashvili's two main allies in the Rose Revolution, Zurab Zhvania, became prime minister. The other, Nino Burjanadze, remained in her position as speaker of the weakened parliament.