LEAVING MIDDLE EARTH

NO LONGER A MIDDLE WAY!
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GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 3/21/08
http://attorneybankert.com/
You are invited to join me at Face Book
http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362 ___________________________

Full article at http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/
SUMMARY ON Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=26325#26325
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For Some Young Tibetan Exiles, Dalai Lama’s ‘Middle Way’ Is a Road to Failure (NYT)

HUMAN RIGHTS! STARTS AT HOME NANCY

A senior US lawmaker, Nancy Pelosi, has called on the international community to denounce China's rule in Tibet. (B)

"As a freedom-loving people, if we don't speak out about the Chinese oppression, then we have lost our right to speak on human rights," Pelosi told reporters. ( c)

MARCHING MONKS

The unrest began March 10 when Buddhist monks marched in Lhasa calling for an end to religious restrictions and the release of imprisoned colleagues. (BC)

The demonstration marked the anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, after which the Dalai Lama fled to India. (BC)

WHAT DOES TIGHTEN SECURITY MEAN!

The Chinese authorities are continuing to tighten security following days of protests by Tibetans in the main city, Lhasa, and in surrounding provinces. (B)

NANCY MEETS WITH THE GOVERNMENT IN EXILE

Ms Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, spoke out while holding talks in northern India with the Dalai Lama. (B) Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting the violence. (B)

The Dalai Lama is trying to build international pressure on China to show restraint in dealing with the biggest protests in Tibet in almost 20 years. The Nobel Peace Prize winner says he is committed to a peaceful solution and isn't seeking independence for the Himalayan territory. (BC)

LET FREEDOM REIGN

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out

against China and the Chinese in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out on human rights," Ms Pelosi told a crowd of thousands of cheering Tibetan exiles, including monks and schoolchildren, in Dharamsala. (B)

Tibet had varying degrees of autonomy from China until the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. It deployed troops there a year later and annexed the region in 1951. (BC)

CONGRESSIONAL JUNKET

Ms Pelosi's visit at the head of a congressional delegation was planned before the anti-China protests began. (B)

On Thursday, China admitted for the first time that troops had shot and injured protesters during the unrest. (B)

TABLOIDS CATCH NANCY HOLDING HANDS IN PUBLIC

Pelosi told the crowd at the temple in Dharamsala that it must be karma that brought her to India at such a difficult time. The Dalai Lama and Pelosi held hands as he escorted her around the temple( c)

Rifles and bayonets (B)

THIS IS THE NRA DREAM WORLD

These Tiebettans just need the right to bear arms and form a militia..., giterdone.(TRB)

Anti-China protests began on 10 March in Lhasa and gradually escalated, spreading to Tibetan communities in neighbouring Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai provinces. (B)

China says 13 people were killed by rioters in Lhasa. The Tibetan government-in-exile says at least 99 people have died in a crackdown by Chinese troops. (B)

China has said "13 innocent civilians" died and that it used no "lethal" force to subdue the rioting.(H)

Bullets are simply a non lethal crowd control mechanism, time tested on internal political opposition.(trb)

AN ARMED INSURGENCY WITH WMD.

The Tibetans "were throwing stones at anything that drove by," Mr Kenwood said. (H)

"The young people were involved and the old people were supporting by screaming - howling like wolves. Everyone who looked Chinese was attacked," said 25-year-old Swiss tourist Claude Balsiger. (H)

OUT WITH THE OLD

"They attacked an old Chinese man on a bicycle. They hit his head really hard with stones (but) some old Tibetan people went into the crowd to make them stop," he said. (H)

"Shops were all burnt out - all the merchandise was on the street in a bonfire. Many buildings were gutted," said Serge Lachapelle, a tourist from Montreal in Canada. (H)

"The Muslim district was entirely destroyed - every store was destroyed," said Mr Kenwood. (H)

THIS IS NO LONGER MIDDLE EARTH

... a handful of radical Tibetan exile groups have said angrily that the “middle way” has achieved nothing in nearly 30 years. They have called for an Olympic Games boycott, burned Chinese flags and refused to call off a march from here to Lhasa, Tibet’s capital, which he has called impractical in opposing a mighty state intent on using force.(nyt)

RESTRICT THE PRESS

China is not allowing foreign journalists into Tibet. Troops have also sealed off towns in the surrounding areas where unrest has taken place, witnesses say. (B)

But the BBC's James Reynolds spent 24 hours in Hezuo in Gansu, where earlier this week Tibetan protesters tore down the Chinese flag. (B)

Chinese security forces had swamped the town and the streets were full of police cars, check points and military trucks. (B)

On the southern entrance to Hezuo there were rows of soldiers carrying AK47 rifles and bayonets, our correspondent said. (B)

Public notices and police broadcasts told protesters to surrender by midnight on 25 March or face arrest and punishment. (B)

Other witnesses have reported seeing hundreds of troop carriers heading for Tibetan areas in recent days. (B)

Protesters shot (B)

POLITELY(TRB)

On Thursday Chinese authorities admitted that members of the security forces had fired on Tibetan protesters. (B)

SELF DEFENSE? WORDS DO HURT!

Police wounded four protesters "in self-defence" last Sunday in Aba county, a Tibetan area of Sichuan province, Xinhua news agency said. (B)

An earlier Xinhua report said police had shot the four dead, but it was quickly changed.(B)

Xinhua did not provide further details of the incident, but Tibetan activists say at least eight people were killed at a demonstration against Chinese rule near the Kirti monastery in Aba on Sunday. (B)

The rioters burnt down a police station in Aba town and attacked officers with knives, according to the report. (BC)

THE CHINESE DO NOT DISCRIMINATE

Earlier this week, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy circulated photos of bodies with apparent gunshot wounds, which it said were the result of police firing indiscriminately at protesters. (B)

CONDI SPEAKS..

Now we are really in trouble.(trb)

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held telephone talks with her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in which she urged Beijing to show restraint. (B)

THE DALI DID IT!

But Mr Yang told her the protesters were trying to sabotage both the Olympics and social stability - and reiterated China's position that it blamed the Dalai Lama for the violence.(B)

The Dalai Lama - who in 1989 won the Nobel Peace Price for his commitment to non-violence in the quest for Tibetan self-rule - has called for talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao. (B)

The Dalai Lama says he will resign as leader of Tibet's exiles if unrest in his homeland worsens, as aides say a Chinese crackdown claimed 19 more lives.(h)

The Buddhist leader, speaking in the northern Indian town of Dharamshala where his exiled government is based, said today he was opposed to the violence that erupted in Tibet last week(h)

Chinese officials blame supporters of the Dalai Lama for riots in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, last week. Authorities say protesters killed 13 people and damaged more than 500 homes. Tibetan exiles said security forces have killed about 100 demonstrators since the protests began March 10. (BC)

Even so, the 72-year-old monk’s refusal to call for independence from China more forcefully as it has cracked down on the protests in Tibet has sharpened disagreement with younger and more aggressive Tibetan exiles. (NYT)

So the question arises of whether the Dalai Lama, who has spent the last 49 years here in India and built one of the most powerful exile movements in the world, is out of touch with his own people. Or is this monk, regarded by his followers as a reincarnation of Buddha, the ultimate political pragmatist?(nyt)

There is no clear answer. Whether his doggedly conciliatory posture will ever assuage China’s government, or whether his allies will intensify pressure on China on his behalf remains a mystery.(nyt)

But a hint of his influence here bleeds through the often angry, inventive protests that have gone on nearly nonstop for over a week. For all the slogans of fury — “Free Tibet” and “Death to Hu Jintao” — China’s president, the most common is a call-and-response homage: “Long live the Dalai Lama.”(nyt)

LEADERSHIP? Or lack thereof!

President “ I have bought my tickets, Nancy just work this thing out!”(TRB)

George W. Bush, who ignored objections by China in October to award the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, plans to attend the Games, according to the White House.(BC)

Over the last week, the violence has spread beyond Tibet into at least two neighboring Chinese provinces -- Gansu and Sichuan -- both with large Tibetan populations. ( C )

THE NEW VOICES

Tashi Phuntshok, 40, a resident of a dormitory for new refugees here, said he understood that the Dalai Lama’s political strategy was intended to spare more Tibetan lives. If he called for independence, Mr. Phuntshok said, there would be outright war. “His Holiness, he is kind-hearted,” Mr. Phuntshok explained. 1. “For us,” he said, “it should be full independence.” Tashi Phuntshok, 40, a resident of a dormitory for new refugees here, said he understood that the Dalai Lama’s political strategy was intended to spare more Tibetan lives. If he called for independence, Mr. Phuntshok said, there would be outright war. “His Holiness, he is kind-hearted,” Mr. Phuntshok explained. (nyt)

Tsering Dorje, 34, came out of an Internet cafe on the same road, having scoured the Web for the latest news inside Tibet. He regarded the “middle way” as still the soundest strategy, but said that China would have to respond favorably soon for Tibetans to keep faith in the concept. “It’s time for China to show whether it has the courage,” he said. “If China doesn’t change its stance, I will change my mind.”(nyt)

Samdhong Rinpoche, the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile, said he recognized the “energy and fire” of younger, more radical exiles, but dismissed their expectations.(nyt) “They have all lived in a world of dreams,” he said. “And they are driven by emotions.”(nyt) “For us,...it should be full independence.”(nyt)

Which side do you fall when a people fight for freedom, I side with freedom.(TRB)

Tenzin Wangdue, who has spent the last 11 days shouting slogans, including some that the Dalai Lama would shun, is typical of the new generation. While not rejecting the Dalai Lama’s authority, he believes Tibetans have to push harder if they are going to get anywhere. “They’re not going to give total independence,” he said of China. “But I think there’s hope they’re going to accept genuine autonomy if we say we want total autonomy.”(nyt)

good luck....(TRB)

Posted here by Terry Bankert ...
http://attorneybankert.com/
Join my political party of preference,
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—where did this stuff come from---

(B) BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7308169.stm

(BC) The Bloomberg.com http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amQQ7nR0ANbk&refer=home

(TRB) Comments of Terry Bankert and CAP headlines Terry Bankert 3/20/08 http://attorneybankert.com/

(NYT) The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/world/asia/21exiles.html?ref=asia

( c ) CNN.com /Asia http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/21/tibet.dalai.lama/

(h) The Heraldsun http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23398353-663,00.html 44788

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