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The World Jog Salutes Aung San Suu Kyi

Having a rest day here in Badger Newfoundland has allowed me a chance to catch up on my emails and news.
 
Being a very strong trade-unionist I must admit I was a bit torn between making the World Jog a political statement or just keep it non-political.
I was even tempted to make the very first day on the road of this world run a protest walk from Dublin to Newbridge in Ireland. A protest walk against our shambolic government, a government that doesn’t give a toss about it’s people.
Today the IMF and the ECB are in Ireland talking about a bailout for a country which only a few years ago was the envy of most of the world. Three or four years ago according to our politicians we were about the second or third richest country in the world (per capita)
I never believed that. Working in construction I could see that we were overbuilding, building too many housing estates and offices.
The government were creaming off a nice hefty stamp duty tax for every house that was built. They were in denial that the good times would never end. Anyone that stood up to them was laughed at and called a traitor.
Our economy was built and heavily reliant on the construction industry. They never believed that the good times would end and that the immigrants that filled those houses would one day go home. Truth is they didn’t want to know they were so greedy taking this up to 9% stamp duty on the purchase price of a new home. Now we have serious negative equity problem. Many of our citizens are trapped with paying off over-inflated house prices.

Unfinished ghost housing estates and construction sites. It will cost more to maintain them and just like in Detroit and Michigan it will probably be cheaper to just knock them down and create a few more jobs for our ailing record all-time high unemployment list.
 
Our politicians boasted about how great we were on radio and television broadcasts. Then they had the brass neck to say the very next day that we didn’t have the money for life-saving operations for our young children and the elderly. All this while our government agencies abused our resources flying around the world on useless junkets , spending a fortune even on their partners hairdo’s to say the least.
 
I never did make that protest, I just ran away. Like most Irish people I just shrugged my shoulders and moved on.

Oh! For the French and the Greeks.
 
While all this was happening far away in Burma a woman called Aung San Suu Kyi  DE TAILS  refused to walk away.
 
Suu Kyi is from a military and political background was the leader of a pro democracy party in oppressive Burma. Last weekend she was released due to constant  international political pressure from her illegal house arrest which began over twenty years ago.
The irony is that her release coincided with the end of the sham ‘ democratic ‘ elections in the Asian state.

Aung San Suu Kyi

 
The Burmese government gave Suu Kyi  many opportunities to walk away, to attend to ill relatives abroad. She refused, believing the government could not be trusted to allow her to return to her home country in order to continue her pro-democracy protest.
 
Irish rock band U2 penned a very emotional song in support of Suu Kyi called Walk ON PLAY
 
This song has always been one of my favourite songs and in recent months since my preparations for the World Jog kicked into place it has become my firm favourite. The irony is that I am a runner. But to me this song symbolises freedom, or more correctly the lack of it.

For many months I have been playing this song even on repeat. When I play it, I always take one big look around my surroundings. I thank God for my freedom. It never fails to stir my emotions.

 U2 have been performing this song on their current 2 year 36O world tour. If you look  closely at  the video linked above  you will see  Amnesty International volunteers circle the outer track of the bands 36O degree stage. The volunteers are holding up masks of brave Sui Kyi. So far on their tour I have seen the Dublin band play 5 times. On each occasion when the band play this song I have almost been in tears. I look forward to see them play twice in Anaheim, Ca. in June, that will be really interesting.

In a letter from U2′s Edge he advises caution:

Dear tony,

I’m sure, like us, you’re delighted with the news of the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma at the weekend. We should all be relieved, if cautious, that she has been able to take a step towards freedom.

However, we must remember that her release is not part of any political process but is designed to get positive publicity for the dictatorship after the blatant rigging of elections on 7th November. We must not forget the thousands of other political prisoners still suffering in Burma’s jails and must do whatever we can to encourage the international community to engage the junta in dialogue.

We will continue our support of this remarkable woman and her campaign, and as always we count on your continued input and continued vigilance.

Thanks
Edge

When I play Walk On on my Ipod on the World Jog all I can do is just look around and value my freedom which so many people around the world just don’t have.
 
It’s amazing that so many Irish begrudgers have lambasted Bono for ‘ mouting off ‘
 
U2 have been hugely responsible for the foreign debt of 14 African countries being written off . Some day we may need Bono to do a nixer in Ireland.
 While our useless and most unpopular government of all time still wont resign. They still still believes that they have done nothing wrong, even with the IMF and the ECB sipping coffee at their very own table in Dublin. 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkIH2nI5DJ4

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6 Responses to “The World Jog Salutes Aung San Suu Kyi”

  1. Ann Says:

    Hey Tony,

    See you keeping up to date on the state of our irish economy. We sure are in a bad way. You are right, we may need Bono to do a nixer for Ireland. Take care Ann

  2. theworldjog Says:

    Thanks Ann. Just heard Senator Shane Ross interviewed on the radio here saying how humiliating it is. He was also talking about all the bad loans to the developers and the billions pumped into dead banks that should have been nationalised. Tony

  3. Frank O'Connell Says:

    I don’t blame you for running out of ireland! Keep running Tony!

  4. Ming&Jenny(in bager NL) Says:

    we r not really know about irish or enconomy.
    whatever ever keeping touch.
    Might be 1 day we can drink coffee in ireland. n then c u still run around or not.
    But be careful now, dont get cold. n u could c moose on the way.

  5. brian linehan Says:

    Hi Tony
    no I’am not that Brian Linehan. Hopefully by the time you return to Ireland things will have improved.Love reading your stories as you run around the world.

  6. theworldjog Says:

    Thanks very much Ming and Jenny, Badger NL. It was lovely meeting you. It would be lovely meeting you someday in Ireland too when the world run is over. I enjoyed my stay in Badger and am having a really great time here in NL. Good luck with the business and thanks to everyone elsefor your very nice comments,
    Tony

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About Tony

I have always considered myself to be an average runner. In school, I was even bullied for I was a sports wimp. Through hard work, dedication, perseverance, self-belief and a strong mind I succeeded in not only running around the world but breaking four ultra running world records during my competitive career. Having previously cycled around the world I didn't start running until I was almost 30. Then I had a dream of running around the world. For many reasons, I waited for over 20 years. One reason was to establish my pedigree as an endurance athlete. I started and finished my world run as the current World Record-Holder for 48 Hours Indoor Track 426 kilometres (265 miles), a record I have held since 2007. I also broke and still hold the World Record for 48 hours on a Treadmill 405 kilometres (251 miles) in 2008. When I retired from competition, more pleasing than any of my world, European or Irish records I had the respect of my fellow athletes from all over the world - in my opinion, sports greatest reward - an achievement I am most proud of. Then I finally put myself out to pasture, to live my ultimate dream to run around the world! This blog was written on the road while I struggled to find places to sleep and to recover from running an average of 43.3 kilometres or 27 miles per day for 1,165 road days. There were many nights I typed this blog on a smart phone, so fatigued my eyes closed. Many journalists and endurance athletes have referred to my world run as the most difficult endurance challenge ever attempted. During my expedition I rarely had any support vehicles, running mostly with a backpack. In the more desolate areas I pushed my gear, food and water in a cart which I called Nirvana, then I sent her on ahead to run with my backpack once again over altitudes of almost 5,000 metres in the Andes. I stayed in remote villages where many people had never seen a white person before. I literally met the most wonderful people of this world in their own backyard and share many of those amazing experiences in this blog. My run around the world took 4 years. There were no short cuts, I ran every single metre on the road while seeking out the most comprehensive route across 41 countries, 5 continents, I used 50 pair of running shoes and my final footstep of the run was exactly 50,000 kilometres, (almost 31,000 miles) I eventually finished this tongue in cheek named world jog where I started, at the finish line of my city marathon. I started my global run with the Dublin Marathon on October 25th 2010 and finished with the Dublin Marathon on October 27th 2014 at 3 05pm! Thank you for your support, I hope you can share my unique way of seeing the world, the ultimate endurance challenge! Read more...

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