Posts by Bob Munro
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The Dalai Lama''s point of view is expressed by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyar, his chief representative in talks with Beijing, in this article in the International Herald Tribune. The full text is online at The International Campaign for Tibet.
On more than one occasion during our six rounds of discussion with representatives of the Chinese government, I emphasized that Beijing's policies were driving Tibetans into a corner.
We knew that the heavy-handed implementation of policies undermining Tibetans' distinct identity, combined with the influx of large numbers of Chinese migrants to the plateau, and in particular the virulent official denunciations of the Dalai Lama in recent times, meant that Tibetans were almost at breaking point.
We are deeply concerned with the selective way in which the Chinese authorities are representing the crisis. The rifts that are developing between Tibetans and Chinese could last for generations and they could cause irrevocable harm to the harmonious relations between the two communities.
The protests that we have seen among my Tibetan compatriots are not only a result of several years of hard-line policies by Beijing. They have deeper roots, arising from 50 years of Chinese misrule.
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There's a school of thought that the American style of integration has been a success compared to those of France or Britain. People retain a distinct ethnic identity -- often down through generations -- but also salute the flag.
Plus I believe in the States you forfeit your original passport when you become a U.S. citizen so you are making a complete commitment.
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This article in the Guardian by Daniel Bell, professor of philosophy at Tsinghua University in Beijing. seeks to address these same issues.
In China, it will come as no great surprise that the heavy hand of state censorship is the biggest problem.....
...In western countries, by contrast, the real threat comes from public opinion. Certain public prejudices make some stories more newsworthy than others, and those stories further reinforce those prejudices. Consider the way that China is demonised in the western press. A social critic beaten up by local thugs is bound to make the headlines in dozens of newspapers (one rarely hears about such occurrences in Uzbekistan, Eritrea, or India). I do not mean to suggest that such facts are unimportant. It's especially important for western reporters to write about them, since Chinese reporters can rarely do so. But if that's all people read (or want to read) about China, they will get a very skewed picture of what's happening in a country of 1.3 billion people that is undergoing the most rapid and comprehensive social transformation in the history of mankind.
How many people in the west know that hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty? That the majority of Chinese citizens have personal freedoms almost unimaginable 30 years ago? That the Chinese government learned not to overreact to provocations from Taiwanese pro-independence forces, thus paving the way for better relations with Taiwan? That the party has implemented mechanisms for relatively smooth transitions of political power, including mandatory retirement ages for leaders? That European human rights groups are working with the Chinese authorities to reduce the incidence of torture in police investigations? That implementation of the death penalty has been substantially curtailed of late? Or that the official newspaper China Daily recently printed a photo of two young Chinese men in the throes of a passionate kiss in a pro-queer piece headlined Pride and Prejudice?
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Actually stayed up past my bedtime on Saturday night to watch again the beans eating scene in Blazing Saddles.
As the TV2 promo material says:
"But it's really all just an excuse for a relentless succession of gags. Even if many are now a little dated, their frequency makes up for it. And a good fart joke never goes out of style."
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That's what I like about PAS - the learned conversations, delving into social history and poetry.
Just marking time till Colin reappears.
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The famous slogan:
'Beanz Meanz Heinz."led to the inevitable t shirt:
'Heinz Meanz Fartz' -
I hardly know anything about country,
But Bob obviously does. He has latched on to the motherlode from which all the alluvial has spread. he almost certainly enjoys the redemptive chorus,
"I'm going where there's no Depression
To a better land that's free from care
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble
My home's in heaven
I'm going there"Revived by Jeff Tweedy in his Uncle Tupelo mode and the name of the first alt. country fanzine, sadly just ceased publication. Maybe Bob is shittin on you because he's stuck in Riverton When Tweedy has just played Whitianga and Wellington?
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There will be a few people on the North Shore thinking Cromwell looks pretty good at the moment ...
We looked at buying a house in Cromwell awhile ago but the bank manager said it was out of our league.
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But stay away from allspice, man. That stuff will eat your conscious expressionism, man.
The New York Times goes in search of the grand daddy of experimenters
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Which is why, although we *have* to deal with them economically, as decent people we should keep this to a minimum and not be cowed from speaking out.
This what I think too. I realise Helen Clark has to walk a tricky tightrope but she is wrong to give the okay to the Olympic Flame going through Tibet under the current conditions. It is not China's Olympics but the World's.
At Olympia in Greece, last night the Olympic flame was lit as Reporters Without Borders managed to stage a protest which was quickly cut out by Chinese editing crews before sent "live" back to China.
One of the major grounds for China to get the Olympics was its promise to allow free press during the event, a promise that is now crumbling.
"Either Tibet is open or it's not. If it is, let independent monitors and the media go there. If it's not, the torch shouldn't go there either," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "The Olympic torch should not be turned into a smokescreen to cover up human rights abuses."
Such abuses are in violation with both the Olympic Charter and of the basic principles of corporate social responsibility, said the Human Rights Watch spokeswoman, urging sponsors and organizers to think twice about their involvement. "Acting responsibly is good publicity. Being morally blind is not," Richardson said.
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