In the 1960s, women burned bras as an act of protest. In the 2000s, they're called upon to donate panties. And just as those freewheeling hippie chicks got conservative knickers, um, in a knot, it is hoped that the Panties for Peace! movement will make another bunch of baddies sweat.

Yesterday was the official launch of the campaign organized by la Fédération des Femmes du Québec (Quebec Women's Federation) and the Rights & Democracy Student Network, kicked off with a press conference in Montreal. The call is now out for Canadian women to donate panties in the hopes of ending the military regime in Burma.

The Panties for Peace! concept was actually dreamt up a lot closer to the fighting by a group called Lanna Action for Burma. The campaign plays on the reported "regime leaders' superstitious fear that contact with a woman's underpants will rob them of their power." (Gee, I know a lot of non-Burmese guys who believe that...)

Mika Levesque of the network explained the effort thusly: "We appeal to every Canadian woman to clean up her drawer, choose one piece of panties, glue a picture of the military rulers on it or scribble some slogan or message for the junta and then register it with us before sending it to the Myanmar embassy in Ottawa. Registering with us will help us to keep track of how many panties have been sent to the embassy."

And um, oh yes, along with the panties, Montreal organizers will also attempt to raise much-needed funds to be sent to humanitarian organizations working in Burma.

"The Rights & Democracy Student Network will see to it that Lanna Action for Burma's message is heard across Canada through our delegations on more than 30 Canadian campuses," said Rights & Democracy Student Network coordinator Sophie Rondeau. "We welcome this opportunity to show our solidarity with the courageous women of Burma."

Plus, she's got to be happy it's May; it'd be a bit difficult to go commando in a Montreal January...